Former Goldman Sachs trader becomes Greek opposition party's first gay leader

A 35-year-old and openly homosexual former Goldman Sachs trader has been elected leader of Greece's main opposition party on September 24, whose rise to the top shocked the Hellenic left-wingists.

As reported by Bloomberg, Stefanos Kasselakis, who has been a US resident until recently, emerged from political obscurity within a month to head Greece’s main opposition group after having entered the race in August by posting a video on his social media channels.

Nikos Pappas, an MP and Syriza veteran, said Kasselakis would be rejuvenating, and that he has a “clear mandate” to transform Syriza into a “left-wing, progressive, democratic faction”.

He replaces ex-Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who resigned as head of Syriza in June after the party’s poor electoral performance.

Political neophyte Kasselakis, whose limited political experience includes a short volunteering position for then-Senator Joe Biden in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, used his business career to position himself as the candidate to defeat incumbent Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

He has been educated at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States and worked for Goldman Sachs before founding his own shipping company. Being an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ rights in Greece and in a civil partnership with his American partner, he is Syriza’s first openly gay leader.