Boris Akunin: "Leaders and salaries"

“But, although the leader lives on everything ready and does not seem to need money, nevertheless he works for the good of society and should receive payment for this, like all other workers.

I became interested in what the legal incomes of the great leaders were during the last hundred years. Google research turned out to be fascinating.

Benito Mussolini, imagine, did without a salary at all. He served Italy selflessly. For “pocket expenses” the Duce had enough fees and profits from the official newspaper “Popolo d'Italia”, of which he was the owner.

Adolf Hitler satisfied his financial appetites quite wittily. With true German tediousness, he did not simply take from the treasury what he needed, but observed the formalities."