The long-standing UBS CEO is leaving UBS in less than six weeks – and won't formally be at the disposal of his successor, Ralph Hamers, after leaving.
Swiss banker Sergio Ermotti will head out the door of his office at UBS' headquarters on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse 45 for the last time on Friday, October 30. From the following Monday, his successor, Ralph Hamers, takes over as CEO of the world's largest wealth manager.
Ermotti and UBS plan to sever all ties: the CEO of nearly nine years won't maintain an advisory mandate, and his regular employment contract will run out six months after he leaves, a spokesman told finews.asia on Friday. Hamers is currently on a nine-week «onboarding» at UBS before formally taking over on November 1.
Absolute Exit
The Ticino native's absolute exit from UBS explains a gentleman's agreement reached with his boss, UBS Chairman Axel Weber, earlier this year: Two weeks after Hamers was named to replace him at UBS, Swiss Re revealed Ermotti as the successor to Walter Kielholz, its chairman of 11 years.
Swiss Re, the world's largest reinsurer, isn't a direct competitor to UBS – in fact, the two recently inked cooperation over a mortgage platform, as finews.com reported. Ermotti is already a regular director on Swiss Re's board, and the Zurich-based company said it will propose him as chairman in April.
Highest in Europe
With 12.5 million Swiss francs ($13.7 million) in total pay last year, Ermotti is Europe's most lavishly compensated banker. He realized more than 50 million francs in pay since taking the helm, according to UBS' annual report.
Nearly two years ago, he doubled down with a $13 million personal bet on his own stock – effectively, one year's pay worth of UBS shares. Together with the stock, he has accumulated as pay since joining in 2010, Ermotti is the biggest UBS shareholder in top management (4 million shares, or 0.2 percent voting rights).
