Without money, Carlos Moedas studied at one of the best universities in the world with a “loan” from his wife: “I never paid him!” – National

The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, studied at Harvard, in the United States of America, at a time in his life when he had difficulty finding the money necessary to pay for training on the other side of the Atlantic.

Coins was in conversation with Cristina Ferreira at the ‘Two at 10’, this Wednesday, the 27th, and revealed this episode and how he managed to start studying at Harvard. It was thanks to his wife that the mayor of Lisbon was able to attend one of the best universities in the world.

When he went to France, Carlos Moedas started working without having anything. “Then I start thinking, I want to do one of these master’s degrees in business”, he said and applied to a university in France. That’s when the woman, Céline Abecassis Moedas, suggested that the current president of the chamber apply to Harvard. “I can’t. It’s 100 thousand dollars. I didn’t have that money”recalls the 53-year-old engineer.

Money was no obstacle and Carlos Moedas applied to both universities. “I applied and received a letter from the French university saying that I was accepted, but I had to pay 40 thousand euros. I called there to say that I didn’t have the money and the answer was that I had to ask for a loan from the bank”. However, it also received “a letter from Harvard saying he had to pay $100,000.”

The engineer decided to call Harvard as well and was told that “No one who got into Harvard ever came to Harvard.” “Do you have money to catch a plane to Boston?” With this surprise Carlos Moedas, despite not having money for a plane ticket, replied yes. “It was the first loan I asked my wife for and I never paid her back.”

During the conversation with the TVI presenter, Carlos Moedas also spoke about his children who live outside Portugal and about his new book, ‘Leading with People’.