Anti-austerity Icon Varoufakis Among Greece's Richest Politicians: Tax Returns

Maverick Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, who shot to fame as a pundit during the economic crisis and was briefly finance minister, is one of the country's richest party leaders, his tax returns showed Thursday.

According to data released by the Greek parliament, Varoufakis made more than 970,000 euros ($1 million) between 2015 and 2017, including over 450,000 euros in the last year on record.

Among assets to his name are two cars, three motorbikes and a boat.

Varoufakis in 2017 published "Adults in the Room", an account of his doomed negotiation with Greece's creditors to lessen austerity as finance minister in the leftist government of former prime minister Alexis Tsipras.

The terse six-month talks in 2015 nearly saw Greece thrown out of the euro, and Tsipras' government was forced to impose capital controls to avert a bank run.

Varoufakis resigned when Tsipras decided to give in to the lenders, accepting a third international loan underpinned by new austerity measures.

The book was made into a movie this year by Greek-French director Costa-Gavras.

Varoufakis returned to parliament in July after general elections as the leader of anti-austerity party MeRA25, after failing to win a seat in European parliament elections.

Tsipras in comparison made under 172,000 euros over the same period. His successor as prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, made around 216,000 euros.