During his years at the helm of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam relied on a close circle of staff that worked alongside the executive committee of the bank – a «shadow cabinet» as it were. Who are they and who remains at the bank?
At Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam had a small group of people around him that he knew and trusted and who carried out his wishes. The group extended beyond the executive board and included advisers with a strong network in politics and business.
As head of communications, marketing and investor relations, Adam Gishen was the best known among the high-ranking advisers of Tidjane Thiam. But the CEO of Credit Suisse had hired a number of other staff he trusted and who put their knowhow and influence at his disposal.
During his first year at the bank, Thiam also installed Mindy Silverstein and Matthew Farnum-Schneider – both described themselves as managing director and senior adviser to the CEO in their LinkedIn profiles.
Shadow Members of the Executive
The three advisers completed a group of close advisers to Thiam – alongside Peter Goerke and Pierre-Olivier Bouée as members of the executive board. Goerke and Bouée joined in of 2015 and were both protagonists in the spy-scandal that ultimately led to the departure of Thiam earlier in February.
Farnum-Schneider was the only one of the three advisers to have worked directly for Thiam. He had been Thiam’s chief of staff at previous employer Prudential, the U.K.-based insurer. Gishen had also known Thiam from his time at Prudential, but as an outside adviser in his role as partner at investment banking boutique Ondra Partners.
Year of Departures
Of the group of five, only Silverstein is left in her job at the bank – the others all have departed over the past 12 months. Goerke officially is still at Credit Suisse, but since he left the executive board, he seems to be working quietly towards an early retirement.
Farnum-Schneider had left already in the summer to join U.K. company called Catena, where he was installed as its CEO. He wants to refocus Catena from being a provider of services in school sports to a specialist in artificial intelligence.
Junk Bond Connection
Silverstein is putting her vast network to use at Credit Suisse. Before she joined the bank, she was managing director at the Milken Institute. The think tank was launched by the billionaire Michael Milken, who made a fortune as a pioneer in the business of junk bonds.
Before he joined Credit Suisse as its CEO, Thiam had participated in conferences organized by the institute, which brought together politicians, philanthropists and businessmen to discuss current affairs and possible solutions to global challenges.
U.S. Network
The last time that Thiam had taken part was in 2018, while the Swiss bank also took part in last year’s meeting: Lara Warner, head of risk, and David Miller, head of investment banking and capital markets, were panelists.
Silverstein also acted as a mouthpiece of the bank and met with the global political elite, gleaning vital insight into the thinking among the exclusive circles. Pictures of the Credit Suisse adviser can be found on the Flickr profile of Rwanda President Paul Kagame.
She is mainly active in the U.S. even though she moved to Zurich when she joined the bank. As much as she was able to support Thiam, her active role in the U.S. may also help new CEO Thomas Gottstein, who like his predecessor, never held a role in the U.S.
