(born Sept. 30, 1732, Geneva, Switz.—died April 9, 1804, Coppet) Swiss-born French financier and director-general of finance under Louis XVI. He became a banker in Paris, and, after becoming wealthy from speculating during the Seven Years' War, he was appointed minister of Geneva in Paris (1768). He retired from banking in 1772 and became France's director-general of finance in 1777.
Despite his cautious reforms, he was forced to resign in 1781 over opposition to his scheme to help finance the American Revolution. He was recalled in 1788 to rescue the almost bankrupt France, and he proposed financial and political reforms that included a limited constitutional monarchy. Opposition from the royal court led to Necker's dismissal on July 11, 1789, an event that provoked the storming of the Bastille. After serving again briefly (1789–90), he retired to Geneva. Germaine de Staël was his daughter.
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