I can't help but feel deeply troubled by individuals like Varoufakis, whose rhetoric I find to be a dangerous flavor of populism.
Let's take a deeper look at the man himself. Yanis' (similarly left-leaning) father, Georgios Varoufakis, was chairman of the second-largest steel producing company in Greece, Halyvourgiki Hellenic Steel Industry S.A.. I couldn't find any data on the company's revenue, although their website mentions receiving a couple of investments that are at least 100 million €, so I'm guessing Yanis grew up in a very, very wealthy family.
Now I know that doesn't invalidate anything Yanis ever said or did, but I must say I find it astonishing when multi-millionaires claim to lean heavily on the left of the political spectrum. To me it kind of sounds like claiming to be a vegan while being on an "Atkins" or "Paleo" diet with lots of meat, just because you like talking and reading about veganism. It just oozes hypocrisy.
In fact, Yanis has always struck me as a bit too fond of showing off his wealth and extravagant life. Together with his wife, Danae Stratou (whose father is, wonder of wonders, another wealthy Greek industrialist, with demonstrable ties to the Greek political right), Yanis even went as far as doing a photoshoot at his home in Athens, which is mighty spacious and has a terrace view of the Parthenon. And this happened back in '15, when he was gaining worldwide fame as the newly-appointed Greek Minister of Finance. Yeah.
So how about his credentials as an economist? A quick glance at his own CV reveals he's well-educated and quite prolific, having published several books and more than a few articles. If you just skim over the titles, you'll notice he's published little original research (mostly stuff on game theory), focusing more on academic textbooks and heavily politicized material.
Based on the above, I think it's fair to say that Yanis falls into the typical "rich Marxist academic" category. A man that never had to worry about money and who was given one of the best educations money could buy, all the while claiming to fight—on behalf of the "common man," no less—some invisible war against "evil Capitalism." In addition, he apparently loves media attention, going as far as showcasing his wealth while the very country he was elected to lead was being torn apart by severe austerity measures.
In short, I'm really, really suspicious of Yanis' motives. I don't think they're pure, and I don't think he's aware of the damage he's already caused. His short-lived career as finance minister was so damaging—he enraged his European colleagues by giving academic-style lectures during Eurogroup meetings, instead of discussing numbers and statistics related to Greek fiscal policy—that current Greek Prime Minister Tsipras, who's quite radical himself, asked him to resign.
Does all that really sound like a visionary who wants to see the world become a better place?