Jörg Kukies, state secretary in the chancellery, will replace Christian Lindner as German finance minister after the collapse of the ruling coalition on Wednesday night, public broadcaster ARD and several other German outlets reported Thursday morning.
Kukies is seen as one of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s closest advisors and is well known in Brussels after he served as state secretary for financial market policy and European policy from April 2018 until December 2021.
Previously, Kukies worked for the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Germany’s three-party coalition, under the leadership of the socialist Scholz, collapsed when he sacked his finance minister from the Free Democratic Party.
Scholz will now lead a minority government with his Social Democrats and the Greens until a confidence motion in his government on January 15.