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Urs Rohner

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Urs Rohner
Born1 December 1959 (1959-12) (age 64)
Zürich, Switzerland
EducationUniversity of Zurich
OccupationLawyer
SuccessorAntónio Horta-Osório
Board member ofCredit Suisse (2011-2021)
SpouseNadja Schildknecht

Urs Rohner (born 1959) is a Swiss lawyer, businessman and banker. He is the former CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media and former chairman of Swiss bank Credit Suisse.[1] After his 10 year tenure the share price lost 75% of its value leaving the bank engulfed in various scandals and subsequently apologizing for his poor performance at the last shareholder meeting.[2][3] He is considered one of the worst chairmen in Swiss banking.[4][5]

Early life

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Rohner was born 1959.[6] He competed as a hurdler in the 1982 European Athletics Championships.[7] He earned a master of laws from the University of Zurich in 1983.[6][7]

Career

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Rohner began his career at the law firm Lenz & Staehelin in Zurich,[7] where he was a partner from 1992 to 1999.[8] He subsequently practised for Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City.[8]

Rohner served as the chief executive officer of ProSiebenSat.1 Media from 2000 to 2004.[7]

Credit Suisse, 2004–2021

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Rohner became the chief lawyer at Credit Suisse in 2004.[7]

After moving to the company's board of directors, Rohner served as its vice chairman from 2009 to 2011.[8] Since 2011, he has served as its chairman.[6] In 2017, he was criticized by investors for his poor performance.[7] In 2020, shareholders voted to re-elect Rohner for a final term in office with 77.5% support; the 21.6% opposition he faced was the highest in his nearly a decade as chairman.[9] He retired in May 2021 from the Board of Credit Suisse - during his 10 year tenure, the stock price has fallen by over 70%.[10] In the last year of his tenure, Rohner appointed Lara Warner with no prior risk management experience to Chief Risk Officer of the bank in a push for diversity. Consequently, Credit Suisse's clients lost around $3bn due to the collapse of Greensill.[11] Furthermore, with the collapse of Archegos Capital Credit Suisse lost over $5.5bn exposing its weak risk management, which Rohner in the aftermath of the financial crisis promised to reform.[3]

For his poor performance at Credit Suisse, Rohner received 43.5 million CHF ($47m) in pay.[5]

Other activities

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Corporate boards

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  • Investcorp, Member of the International Advisory Board (since 2021)[12]

Non-profit organizations

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Rohner serves on the board of trustees of the Lucerne Festival,[8] and the Zürich Opera House, as well as the board of governance of the International Institute for Management Development.[8]

Personal life

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Rohner is in a relationship with Nadja Schildknecht, the managing director of the Zurich Film Festival and has a son with her. He has three children from his first marriage.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Kelly, Kate (2020-10-03). "The Short Tenure and Abrupt Ouster of Banking's Sole Black C.E.O." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  2. ^ "Credit Suisse Chairman Says Sorry for Losses as He Exits". Bloomberg News.
  3. ^ a b "Rise and Fall of Credit Suisse's Urs Rohner". 30 April 2021.
  4. ^ Gallarotti, Ermes. "Warum Verwaltungsräte mehr schlecht als recht funktionieren". Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
  5. ^ a b "Credit Suisse lurches from one risk management crisis to the next".
  6. ^ a b c "Company Overview of Credit Suisse Group AG: Urs Rohner". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Franklin, Joshua (25 April 2017). "Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay". Reuters. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Urs Rohner". International Institute for Management Development. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  9. ^ Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi (30 April 2020), Shareholder support for Credit Suisse chairman drops, successor search 'well under way' Reuters.
  10. ^ "Top Credit Suisse Holder Seeks Chairman Pay Cut After Blunders". Bloomberg.com. 29 March 2021.
  11. ^ Morris, Stephen (20 April 2021). "How Credit Suisse rolled the dice on risk management — and lost". Financial Times.
  12. ^ Investcorp Appoints Urs Rohner to its International Advisory Board Investcorp, press release of 12 July 2021.
  13. ^ Erik Nolmans: Credit Suisse: Der Aufsteiger. In: Bilanz 23/2010. 17 December 2010 (German).
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