Alice Weidel (born February 6, 1979, in Gütersloh) is a prominent German politician who has served as co-chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party since June 2022, alongside Tino Chrupalla, and has led the party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag since October 2017. Before entering politics, Weidel pursued a career in finance and economics, working for Goldman Sachs and the Bank of China—a tenure that included six years living in China—before earning a doctorate on the Chinese pension system with support from the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation. After joining the AfD in 2013, motivated by her opposition to the euro, she became the party's lead candidate for federal elections in both 2017 and 2021, making history as the first lesbian to hold such a role, and she was selected as the AfD's Chancellor candidate for the 2025 election. Her career has been shadowed by controversy, including a 2017 campaign donation scandal involving Swiss billionaire Henning Conle, who illegally funneled €132,000 through straw men, costing the party a hefty fine. Politically, Weidel champions economic liberalism, cites British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her role model, advocates for tax cuts, and has controversially called for economically weak Eurozone nations like Greece, Spain, and Portugal to be expelled from the currency union. In 2024, she further drew headlines for firing an advisor who attended a meeting where plans for mass deportations of immigrants were discussed.