German politician of the Christian Social Union party in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002.
He studied law and political science in Munich. First he worked for the public prosecutors office in Munich, then he switched to politics and worked as a State Secretary. He had several jobs in business on an advisory board and as a consultant. Waigel has been a member of the CSU since 1960. From 1971-1975 he was country chairman of the Junge Union in Bavaria. From 1972-2002 he was a member of the German Bundestag. He was Federal Minister of Finance from 1989 to 1999 and CSU Chairman from 1988 to 1999, elected honorary chairman of the CSU at the party congress in July 2009.
He is often referred to as the “namesake for the Euro”. Waigel`s proposal was the first adopted by the European Council. In January 2009, on behalf of the US authorities, Waigel became an anti-corruption officer at the technology company Siemens. Based on his experienced at Siemens, he was appointed chairman of an expert commission “Trust in Quality” in February 2021 to come to terms with the Wirecard accounting scandal.
His father was a bricklayer foreman and a farmer. His older brother died in the second world war. He was married to Karin Waigel from 1966-1993; they have two children together. With his second wife, Irene Epple-Waigel, a former ski racer, he has one son.
Link to Wikipedia biography