Managing Director, IMF (July 5, 2011—September 12, 2019)
Biographical Information
September 12, 2019
In light of her nomination as President of the European Central Bank Madame Christine Lagarde resigned from the IMF with effect from September 12, 2019. First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton is the Acting Managing Director of the IMF.
Born in Paris in 1956, Christine Lagarde completed high school in Le Havre and attended Holton-Arms School in Bethesda (Maryland, USA). She then graduated from law school at University Paris X, and obtained a Master’s degree from the Political Science Institute in Aix-en-Provence.
After being admitted as a lawyer to the Paris Bar, Christine Lagarde joined the international law firm of Baker McKenzie as an associate, specializing in Labor, Anti-trust, and Mergers & Acquisitions. A member of the Executive Committee of the Firm in 1995, Christine Lagarde became the Chairman of the Global Executive Committee of Baker McKenzie in 1999, and subsequently Chairman of the Global Strategic Committee in 2004.
Christine Lagarde joined the French government in June 2005 as Minister for Foreign Trade. After a brief stint as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, in June 2007 she became the first woman to hold the post of Finance and Economy Minister of a G-7 country. From July to December 2008, she also chaired the ECOFIN Council, which brings together Economics and Finance Ministers of the European Union, and helped foster international policies related to financial supervision, regulation, and strengthening global economic governance. As Chairman of the G-20 when France took over its presidency for the year 2011, she set in motion a wide-ranging work agenda on the reform of the international monetary system.
On July 5, 2011, Christine Lagarde became the eleventh Managing Director of the IMF, and the first woman to hold that position. She was elected to a second term, which started on July 5, 2016.
Christine Lagarde was named Officier in the Légion d'honneur in April 2012.
A former member of the French national team for synchronized swimming, Christine Lagarde is the mother of two sons.
