Urs Rohner

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Urs Rohner
Urs Rohner.jpg
Born1 December 1959 (1959-12) (age 63)
Zürich, Switzerland
Education University of Zurich
OccupationLawyer
Successor António Horta-Osório
Board member of Credit 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]

Contents

Early life

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

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

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

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

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

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]

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References

  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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "Credit Suisse lurches from one risk management crisis to the next".
  6. 1 2 3 "Company Overview of Credit Suisse Group AG: Urs Rohner". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Franklin, Joshua (25 April 2017). "Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay". Reuters. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "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).