Yanis Varoufakis, the controversial Greek finance minister who resigned from his post early Monday, just got a strange new nickname: "Minister of Awesome."
The Wall Street Journal reports that less than four hours after Varoufakis stepped down, his book agents in London sent around a PR blast promoting his 2011 title, The Global Minotaur. In the press release, his publisher, Zed Books, calls Varoufakis “possibly the coolest, charismatic and most intelligent Finance minister ever."
The email included the hashtag #MinisterofAwesome.
Many people will probably disagree with that description. Varoufakis was a contentious figure known for his aggressive manner and frequent clashes with the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble. While he had urged Greeks to vote "no" in the Sunday referendum against further economic austerity measures, he had also publicly accused European creditors of “terrorism” against Greece.
A spokesman for Varoufakis appeared to distance himself from the publicity, telling the Journal that the former minister had “nothing to do with ... the publisher’s emotional overreaction to the news of the resignation.”
Varoufakis shared his decision to step down in a Monday blog post. “I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement,” he wrote, in part. “For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today."
"I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride," he added.
In its email, Zed Books offered excerpts from The Global Minotaur, which will be republished in a new edition this summer. The book explores the roots of the 2008 economic collapse and the Eurozone crisis.
Euclid Tsakalotos was named Varoufakis' successor on Monday.
Spokespeople for Varoufakis and Zed Books were not immediately available to comment.