There’s a video from 1994. Friedrich Merz stands in the Sauerland countryside, greeting hunters, praising nature. A puppet fox with Helmut Kohl’s voice wishes him good night. Picture-perfect rural Germany. The Hochsauerland district, where the fox and hare say good night to each other — as the German saying goes.
Thirty years later, the same man sits in the German Chancellery. Between then and now lies a career that has far less to do with the Sauerland than with the boardrooms of global finance. The story of Friedrich Merz is the story of a competence facade — a man who performs folksy proximity while operating for decades within the most exclusive power circles of the Western world.
The CV You Should Know #
The official version: lawyer from Brilon, CDU career, parliamentary faction leader, a few years in business, comeback. The complete version reads differently.
Political career:
- 1989–1994: Member of the European Parliament
- 1994–2009: Member of the German Bundestag
- 2000–2002: Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group
- 2018: CDU chairmanship bid — lost to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
- 2021: CDU chairmanship bid — lost to Armin Laschet
- 2022: Elected CDU chairman (94.62% of delegates)
- May 6, 2025: Elected Chancellor — 325 votes in the second round (a first in German history)
The other career:
- 2005–2021: Lawyer at Mayer Brown LLP (partner, then senior counsel)
- 2009–2019: Chairman of the Atlantik-Brücke
- 2016–2020: Chairman of the supervisory board, BlackRock Asset Management Germany
- Member of the Trilateral Commission (European section)
- Founding member of the INSM support association
- Board member of United Europe (2013–2020)
- Supervisory/advisory board roles at: AXA, BASF Antwerp, Commerzbank, Stadler Rail, HSBC Trinkaus, IVG Immobilien, WEPA, Cologne Bonn Airport
The list of his secondary activities was so extensive that in 2005, he took the German Federal Constitutional Court to court to prevent disclosure of his supplementary income. He lost.
BlackRock: More Than a Side Job #
BlackRock is not just any company. It is the world’s largest asset manager. As of Q4 2025: over $14 trillion in assets under management — more than China’s GDP. BlackRock holds stakes in virtually every DAX company, often as the single largest shareholder.
From 2016 to March 2020, Friedrich Merz served as chairman of the supervisory board of BlackRock’s German subsidiary. This was anything but a ceremonial post. BlackRock itself stated that Merz should “take on a broader advisory role in which he will foster relationships with key clients, regulators, and government authorities in Germany for BlackRock.” That is an explicit lobbying mandate.
And Merz delivered. German parliamentary records show he met with senior government officials on BlackRock’s behalf — including then-Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, and Finance State Secretary Jörg Kukies. As late as March 20, 2020 — days before officially stepping down from his BlackRock post — Merz spoke with Kukies about “current financial market questions” on BlackRock’s behalf.
The Stock-Market Pension: Whose Interests? #
The connection extends to the present. In 2026, the Merz government advanced pension reform plans centered on capital market integration. BlackRock had already met twice with the Finance Ministry in 2023 regarding the “Generationenkapital” (generational capital) stock-market pension scheme, as CORRECTIV reported.
The meeting agenda, obtained by CORRECTIV, included the question: “What role can BlackRock play?” Larry Fink, BlackRock’s CEO, serves as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees. The connection between the financial industry and global governance is not speculation — it is an official function.
Atlantik-Brücke: A Decade at the Helm #
From 2009 to 2019, Merz chaired the Atlantik-Brücke — one of Germany’s most influential transatlantic networking organizations. The association connects German and American decision-makers from politics, business, military, and media. Membership lists are not publicly disclosed; events follow Chatham House Rules.
When Merz stepped down in 2019, he was succeeded by Sigmar Gabriel — the former SPD foreign minister with whom Merz had met shortly before on BlackRock’s behalf. The party affiliation changes; the network remains.
The Trilateral Commission #
Merz is a member of the European section of the Trilateral Commission. Founded in 1973 at the initiative of David Rockefeller, this organization brings together top representatives from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Funded by corporations, private foundations, and billionaires. Its purpose: informal exchange between the power elites of the three major economic blocs.
Bilderberg: The Final Touch #
In May/June 2024, less than a year before his election as Chancellor, Merz attended the 70th Bilderberg Conference in Madrid. The official participant list identified him as “Leader, CDU.” Other German attendees included Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, Chancellery Minister Wolfgang Schmidt, Mathias Döpfner (Axel Springer CEO), and Christian Sewing (Deutsche Bank CEO).
The Bilderberg Conference operates on the same principle as all Merz networks: Chatham House Rules, no official outcomes, no minutes, no accountability. When asked on abgeordnetenwatch.de about the meeting’s content, Merz provided no answer.
Bilderberg has historically served as a kind of audition for future heads of state. Margaret Thatcher (1977), Tony Blair (1993), Emmanuel Macron (2014) — all attended Bilderberg shortly before their rise to power.
“Upper Middle Class” #
In November 2018, during his first bid for CDU chairman, Merz was asked about his wealth. His answer: he belonged to the “upper middle class.”
At that point, he was:
- Chairman of BlackRock Germany’s supervisory board
- Chairman of the Atlantik-Brücke
- Partner/senior counsel at Mayer Brown
- Board member at Stadler Rail (shares worth €6.4 million at the 2019 IPO)
- Owner of a company with two aircraft (Diamond DA62, registration D-IAFM)
- Supervisory board member at numerous additional companies
His estimated net worth according to wealth magazines: approximately €12 million.
A person with a multi-million euro fortune and two private aircraft who calls himself middle class is either operating with a severely distorted frame of reference — or deliberately misrepresenting his social position.
The Pattern: Network Man Plays People’s Politician #
What does a man with these connections do in the Sauerland? He films campaign videos with puppet foxes.
The pattern is as old as political communication itself: the candidate must be relatable, down-to-earth, one of us. The fact that between campaign shoots, Merz sat in the boardrooms of global corporations and dined with the world’s most powerful people at Bilderberg doesn’t fit the narrative. So it gets left out.
The lobbying research by abgeordnetenwatch.de on the “Merz government” reveals: these are not isolated cases. The entire cabinet is permeated by revolving-door careers between corporate lobbying and government office. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche came directly from the Eon subsidiary Westenergie. Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger was vice president of the CDU’s Wirtschaftsrat lobby group and CEO of Ceconomy (MediaMarkt/Saturn).
What This Tells Us #
Friedrich Merz is not an anomaly. He is a symptom. The question is not whether a person with these connections should be allowed to become chancellor — but whether a democratic system functions when these connections play no role in public discourse.
The facts are in the open. They are recorded in parliamentary documents, in Lobbypedia, in the lobby register, in the Bilderberg participant lists. One only needs to read them.
This article is part of the series The Web — documenting power networks and elite structures.
