Stephen Hester

Sir Stephen Hester
Hester in 2014
Born	(1960-12-14) 14 December 1960 (age 63) Yorkshire, England [1]
Education	Easingwold School
Alma mater	Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Occupation	Businessman
Years active	1982–present
Title	Chairman, Nordea Bank and easyJet
Spouses	Barbara Abt ​ ​ (m. 1991;div. 2010)​ Suzy Neubert ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	2

Sir Stephen Alan Michael Hester (born 14 December 1960) ^[2] is a British businessman and former banker. He is chairman of Nordea Bank and easyJet, and the former chief executive of RSA Insurance Group and British Land. ^[3]

Early life

Hester is the eldest son of Ronald, a chemistry professor at the University of York, and Dr Bridget Hester, a psychotherapist.^{[ citation needed ]} He was born in Ithaca, NY, US but grew up primarily in the village of Crayke in North Yorkshire.^{[ citation needed ]} He was educated at Easingwold School in North Yorkshire, a rural comprehensive school, and at Oxford where he studied at Lady Margaret Hall, and after chairing the Tory Reform Group, graduated with a first class honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. ^[3]

Career

Hester (right) with Vince Cable, 2013

Hester has had an extensive business career including holding the chief executive position at three FTSE 100 companies over a 17 year period.^{[ citation needed ]} He began his career in 1982 with investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston, where he started in corporate finance and then served a year as the chairman's assistant. ^[3] He was appointed a director in 1987 and a managing director in 1988 aged 27.^{[ citation needed ]} Following stints as co-head European M&A and investment banking, in 1996 he was appointed to the Executive Board. Hester held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Head of Support Division, until May 2000.^{[ citation needed ]} From May 2000 to September 2001, he was Global Head of the Fixed Income Division.^{[ citation needed ]}

In May 2002, he joined Abbey National as Finance Director.^{[ citation needed ]} The bank had significant financial problems stemming from its wholesale and life insurance activities.^{[ citation needed ]} As part of its significant restructuring , he was given additional responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer for the wholesale and insurance arms of the bank as well as its support functions.^{[ citation needed ]} The restructuring was successful and in 2004 the bank was sold at a significant gain to shareholders to Santander.^{[ citation needed ]}

In November 2004, Hester was appointed chief executive British Land succeeding Sir John Ritblat, the company’s founder.^{[ citation needed ]}

Hester was appointed non-executive deputy chairman Northern Rock by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling in March 2008, a role which he resigned from in September 2008 to take a non-executive position on the board of Royal Bank of Scotland. ^{[4] [5]}

Royal Bank of Scotland

In October 2008, RBS , then the biggest bank in the world by assets, contributed to the cause of the global financial crisis and was bailed out by UK taxpayers.^{[ citation needed ]} As part of that change, Hester was asked to leave British Land and replace Fred Goodwin as Chief Executive of the RBS Group.^{[ citation needed ]}

The ensuing five years were ones of intense restructuring of RBS. Assets were reduced by some £720 billion and costs by c£4.2 billion.^{[ citation needed ]} The task had been likened to defusing a financial bomb.^{[ citation needed ]} In addition to restoring financial health the share price of RBS which had troughed at 90p equivalent, rose to 330p by the time he left the bank.^{[ citation needed ]}

Hester was paid an annual salary of £1.1 million by RBS. ^[6] In 2012 he was offered a bonus of just under £1 million, but following some considerable pressure from politicians and the public, he declined the bonus. ^[7] Later in 2012, in June, he declined his bonus for the following year after RBS's computer problems. ^[8]

In June 2013 Royal Bank of Scotland announced that Hester would be stepping down as CEO in December 2013, after five years with the bank.^{[ citation needed ]}

RSA Insurance

On 4 February 2014, Hester joined RSA Insurance Group, the FTSE100 insurer, as CEO.^{[ citation needed ]} The company was also experiencing a financial crisis and Hester led significant restructuring efforts, streamlining and focusing the business, raising £750 million in a rights issue and changing management whilst cutting costs.^{[ citation needed ]} The insurer responded well to these changes with substantial increases in earnings, dividends and share price.^{[ citation needed ]} The Company accepted an all cash bid worth £7.2 bn in June 2021 from Intact of Canada and Tryg of Denmark. The 52% premium was a record for the sector.^{[ citation needed ]}

Other appointments

In June 2016, Hester was appointed to the board of Centrica the FTSE 100 energy Group as Senior Independent Director which he stepped down from in June 2022.^{[ citation needed ]}

2021 onwards

Hester joined the Board of easyJet, the leading European airline, on 1 September 2021 becoming Chairman on 1 December 2021.^{[ citation needed ]} He also was appointed Lead Independent Director of Kyndryl in November 2021.^{[ citation needed ]} Kyndryl is a New York based and listed company spun off from IBM. It is the largest IT infrastructure provider globally.^{[ citation needed ]}

In April 2022 Hester joined the Board of Nordea Bank abp as Vice Chairman, and became Chairman on 1 October 2022.^{[ citation needed ]}Nordea is the largest bank in the Nordics and the 5th largest European bank by value.^{[ citation needed ]}

Personal life

Hester married Canadian-born Barbara Abt in 1991, and they have two children together. ^{[9] [10]} They met when both were working for Credit Suisse. ^{[9] [10]} They separated and divorced in 2010. ^{[9] [11]}

In September 2012, Hester married Suzy Neubert, a former banker and wealth manager for the fund manager J.O. Hambro. It was a second marriage for both of them. ^{[12] [13]} The couple have four children. ^[2]

Hester bought the 400-acre (160 ha) Broughton Grange estate in Oxfordshire in 1992. ^[9] One of Hester's passions is said to be development of the gardens and arboretum at the property, part of which was designed by landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith and includes pleached limes, formal beds and five of the first Australian Wollemi pines to be brought into the UK. ^[3] For nine years Hester was a trustee of the Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

Hester enjoys tennis, running and shooting, as well as skiing, for which he owns a chalet in Verbier, Switzerland. ^{[17] [18]} Hester also used to enjoy horse riding, ^[18] as his first wife was a master of fox hounds in Warwickshire. ^[19]

Hester has in the past donated to the Conservative Party. ^[20] In the 2024 New Year Honours Hester was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to Business and the Economy. ^[21]

References

1. "Business Events". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
2. Treanor, Jill (14 April 2021). "Interview: Stephen Hester, the Square Mile survivor". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
3. Davidson, Andrew (7 January 2007). "Towering task for British Land boss". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
4. "Stephen Hester appointed to Northern Rock board". Reuters. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
5. Russell, Jonathan (13 October 2008). "Stephen Hester moves back to banking as new head of RBS". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
6. Treanor, Jill (11 February 2013). "RBS chairman defends Stephen Hester's 'modest' pay". The Guardian. London.
7. Peston, Robert (30 January 2012). "RBS boss Stephen Hester rejects £4m bonus". London: bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
8. Treanor, Jill (29 June 2012). "RBS chief Stephen Hester gives up bonus over computer meltdown". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
9. "Stephen Hester: the first name on every headhunter's hitlist" . independent.co.uk. 29 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
10. "Profile: RBS boss Stephen Hester". BBC News. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
11. Dailyrecord.co.uk (4 June 2010). "RBS boss splits with wife of 20 years as pressure of saving bank takes toll". dailyrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
12. Walsh, Kate (4 March 2012). "Prufrock: For Hester, this is Cupid's bonus" . Retrieved 6 April 2018– via www.thetimes.co.uk.
13. Fournier, Elizabeth (13 June 2013). "Impossible job was too hard for Hester to finish". cityam.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
14. "Profile: Stephen Hester". efinancialnews.com. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
15. "Support Kew – Kew Foundation Board of Trustees". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
16. Jenkins, Patrick (7 June 2013). "Lunch with the FT: Stephen Hester". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
17. Jenkins, Patrick (5 February 2014). "Stephen Hester: the Mr Fixit of financial services". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
18. "Profile: Stephen Hester". The Scotsman. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
19. Eden, Richard (14 November 2009). "Hunting ban comes into force for Labour's banker Stephen Hester". ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 28 May 2020.
20. "Profile: Stephen Hester". scotsman.com. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
21. "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N2.

External links

• Broughton Grange website

Business positions
Preceded by Fred Goodwin	CEO of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group 2008–13	Succeeded by Ross McEwan