Tidjane Thiam is famously ambitious, insular and inscrutable. How is he coping as he approaches his third year at the helm of Credit Suisse, nearing the end of a grueling three-year overhaul of the Swiss bank? A finews.asia profile.
Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam conveys zen in the face of his latest test: an opposition shareholder which wants to split up Switzerland's second-largest bank.
Appearing before media for the first time since RBR Capital Advisors launched its campaign last month, Thiam was poised, relaxed and confident, reminding more than one onlooker of his first appearance in Switzerland in March 2015. Then, Thiam was widely praised before even beginning his job, with even reclusive 85-year-old honorary Chairman Rainer Gut turning out to pay his respects.
Shortly after joining Credit Suisse, 55-year-old Thiam bought a home on Zurich’s pricey gold coast. He also made all the right noises about the bank’s long and storied tradition, which is closely linked to the golden age of Switzerland’s infrastructure build.
Pay Missteps
A lot has happened since then: Thiam embarked on an ambitious three-year restructuring, let go thousands of bankers, and was caught up in several embarrassing missteps involving pay and supposed excess.
Twenty-nine months later, his breeziness has been replaced by hard reality: Thiam has adapted Credit Suisse’s strategy and goals several times, all accepted by his major shareholders. Even RBR doesn’t truly represent a challenge to him: «It’s working!,» he exclaimed of CS’s strategy several times in a briefing on Thursday, as if to express his befuddlement that a shareholder would challenge him when things are finally going well.
On Thursday, all 11 of his top management were present, including Asia head Helman Sitohang, but Thiam is the only speaker. Finance chief David Mathers, no shrinking violet, speaks only briefly; Sitohang and investment bank head Brian Chin, private bank head Iqbal Khan and Swiss boss Thomas Gottstein don’t speak at all, even when questions about their units arise.
Grace vs Irascibility
Instead, Thiam telegraphs control with a dash of wit and grace: «I really never talk about competition except to say positive things,» he says when asked about UBS, before complimenting Sergio Ermotti on his stewardship of UBS.
Thiam even kept his irascible side – genuine impatience with those he believes simply don’t get it as much as intellectual snobbery – in check until he was queried on Credit Suisse’s share price.
«A child could tell you» that CS stock will be valued differently before and after raising 4 billion francs in capital from shareholders as the bank did earlier this year, Thiam hit back – his frustration apparent.
And yet it was the successful May cap hike – since which the bank has added 7 billion francs in market cap – and the conclusion of an expensive mortgage security scandal in the U.S. that provided Thiam a bit of breathing room.
«Walk the Floor, Tidjane»
The Ivorian-Frenchman, who refers to this as the «new chapter», was urged by an influential outside adviser to use the leeway to «walk the floor» again. Thiam is too cerebral for the pally and approachable image that Jamie Dimon has adapted at J.P. Morgan or the wry Twitter persona of Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, but Credit Suisse’s staff should still see more of their CEO, was the advice.
Thiam, who surrounds himself with tight-knit group of loyalists and has often displayed a tin ear for both public opinion as well as the concerns of his rank and file, doesn’t appear to have taken the advice. Credit Suisse’s top management only addresses staff on the day of quarterly results, and rarely travel from their central Paradeplatz offices to Uetlihof, the hive of office space on the outskirts of Zurich where most of the bank’s several thousand Swiss staff work.
Past slights may explain Thiam’s guardedness. A brilliant tactician and strategist with degrees from two of France’s most prestigious universities, he was deeply wounded when it became clear early in his executive career that he would not be welcomed into the top ranks of France’s blue-chip firms, likely due simply to ignorance and racism.
«Superb Machine by 2019»
Instead, he turned to the U.K., where he spent the bulk of his business career – 13 years. His last job there, as boss of British insurer Prudential, was of course his springboard to Credit Suisse three years ago.
Among his associates, it is assumed the extremely ambitious Thiam will eventually return to the U.K. – in a big job. His recent hire of a noted U.K. business journalist, James Quinn of «The Telegraph», is seen as part of this. Quinn, the theory goes, has the credibility and media connections to prepare the ground for Thiam to eventually return to a high-profile U.K. job.
The problem? CS is virtually unknown in the U.K., and won’t pave Thiam's way into a job in the highest ranks of British finance – if that is what he is aiming for. His next step is of course unclear, and he remains unreadable. Thiam himself never referred to a timeline further out than 2019. By that year, he argued, Credit Suisse would be a «really superb machine to perform as it has been designed to do.»
