| President of World Bank Group | |
|---|---|
 World Bank logo | |
 IncumbentAjay Banga since June 2, 2023 | |
| Term length | Five years, renewable |
| Website | president |
The president of the World Bank Group is the head of World Bank Group. The president is responsible for chairing the meetings of the boards of directors and for overall management of the World Bank Group.
The nominee is subject to confirmation by the Board of Executive Directors, to serve for a five-year, renewable term. Traditionally, the World Bank Group president has always been an American citizen nominated by the United States, the Bank's largest shareholder, and the IMF's managing director has been a European citizen. While most World Bank Group presidents have had economic experience, some have not.
The fourteenth and current World Bank Group president is Ajay Banga, who was selected on May 3 and began his term on June 2, 2023.
List of World Bank Group presidents
- Status
| # | Portrait | Name | Term | Nationality | Background | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Eugene Meyer | June 18, 1946 – December 18, 1946 |  United States
|
Investor and publisher of The Washington Post; Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve |
First World Bank Group president |
| 2 | 
|
John J. McCloy | March 17, 1947 – June 30, 1949 | United States
|
U.S. Assistant Secretary of War during World War II | First World Bank Group president with military background |
| 3 | 
|
Eugene R. Black Sr. | July 1, 1949 – December 31, 1962 |  United States
|
Bank executive with Chase Manhattan Bank; Executive Director of the World Bank |
|
| 4 | 
|
George Woods | January 1, 1963 – March 31, 1968 | United States
|
Investment banker and bank executive with First Boston Corporation | |
| 5 | 
|
Robert McNamara | April 1, 1968 – June 30, 1981 | United States
|
Business executive with Ford Motor Company; U.S. Secretary of Defense in both the John F. Kennedy administration and Lyndon B. Johnson administration |
|
| 6 |
|
Alden W. Clausen | July 1, 1981 – June 30, 1986 | United States
|
President and CEO with Bank of America | |
| 7 | 
|
Barber Conable | July 1, 1986 – August 31, 1991 | United States
|
U.S. Representative from New York | First World Bank Group president without business background |
| 8 |
|
Lewis T. Preston | September 1, 1991 – May 4, 1995 | United States
|
Bank executive with J.P. Morgan & Co. | First Word Bank Group president to die in office Preston had been on medical leave from his position since February 1995 and had intended to formally retire from the Bank at the end of May of the same year. Ernest Stern was appointed interim World Bank Group president in his absence. |
| – |
|
Ernest Stern Acting |
February 1, 1995 – May 31, 1995 | United States
|
Managing Director of the World Bank; Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) |
First interim World Bank Group president born outside United States First World Bank Group president born in Europe First World Bank Group president from Germany |
| 9 | 
|
James Wolfensohn | June 1, 1995 – May 31, 2005 | United States
|
Corporate lawyer and investment banker | First permanent World Bank Group president born outside United States First World Bank Group president born in Oceania First World Bank Group president from Australia |
| 10 | 
|
Paul Wolfowitz | June 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007 | United States
|
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration | |
| 11 | .jpg)
|
Robert Zoellick | July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2012 | United States
|
Bank executive with Goldman Sachs; U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative in the George W. Bush administration |
|
| 12 | .jpg)
|
Jim Yong Kim | July 1, 2012 – February 1, 2019 | United States
|
Physician, anthropologist and co-founder of Partners in Health; President of Dartmouth College |
First person of color to serve as World Bank Group president First World Bank Group president born in Asia First World Bank Group president from South Korea |
| – | .jpg)
|
Kristalina Georgieva Acting |
February 1, 2019 – April 8, 2019 |  Bulgaria
|
CEO of the World Bank; Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources in the Juncker Commission, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response in the Barroso Commission |
First woman to serve as interim World Bank Group president First World Bank Group president from European Union, from former Eastern Bloc, and from Bulgaria |
| 13 | .jpg)
|
David Malpass | April 9, 2019–June 1, 2023 | United States
|
Chief Economist at Bear Stearns; U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs in the Donald Trump administration |
|
| 14 |
|
Ajay Banga | June 2, 2023–present | United States
|
Vice Chairman at General Atlantic; President and CEO of Mastercard | First World Bank Group president born in South Asia First World Bank Group president from India |
| References: | ||||||
References
- Weiss, Martin A. (February 8, 2019). Selecting the World Bank President (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
According to an informal agreement among World Bank member countries, a U.S. candidate is chosen as the president of the World Bank and a European candidate (typically French or German) is appointed as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- Hurlburt, Heather (March 23, 2012). "Why Jim Yong Kim would make a great World Bank president". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- "Ajay Banga Selected 14th President of the World Bank" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. May 3, 2023. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- Briscoe, David (May 6, 1995). "World Bank President Lewis Preston Dies". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- Lewis, Paul (February 13, 1995). "A Tight Race to Head the World Bank". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- Wolf, Martin (June 27, 2019). "Ernest Stern, economist, 1933-2019". Financial Times. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- "James Wolfensohn: banker to the world". The Sydney Morning Herald. October 9, 2010. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- "World Bank Group President Kim to Step Down February 1" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. January 7, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- "Past Presidents". Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group Archives, World Bank Group. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
Notes
- Prior to taking office, Wolfensohn renounced his Australian citizenship to become naturalized as an American citizen since, by tradition, the head of the World Bank is always an American. He regained Australian citizenship after leaving office.
