Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis (Greek: Ιωάννης Γεωργίου "Γιάνης" Βαρουφάκης, romanized: Ioánnis Georgíou "Giánis" Varoufákis, pronounced [ˈʝaniz varuˈfacis]; born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist and politician. A former academic, he served as the Greek Minister of Finance from January to July 2015 under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He has been Secretary-General of MeRA25, a left-wing political party, since he founded it in 2018. A former member of Syriza, Varoufakis was a member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens B from January to September 2015; he regained a parliamentary seat in July 2019.