section_path: Political positions/Millionaire and middle-class debate
section_name: Millionaire and middle-class debate
paragraph_text: Millionaire and middle-class debate
  
  In November 2018, when asked in an interview with the tabloid media Bild, Merz said that he was a millionaire (without distinguishing between income and wealth millionaires) and thus would belong in his understanding to the upper middle class. He later specified that he, at that time, earned "around one million euros gross" per year. These statements met with a broad public pushback and sparked wider criticism in Germany. Journalists, economists and financial advisors in Germany placed Merz in the upper class. According to the German Federal Bank, at the time in question, a total net worth of over €722,000 put an individual in the top 5 percent of the German population by wealth. Merz's private assets include real estate and two aircraft.