Who are the Richest Swiss Bankers?

Bankers and financiers feature prominently among Switzerland's richest. The alpine nation's oldest banking families are in the lead.

For all the millions earned by big bank CEOs like UBS' Sergio Ermotti, they don't even come close to a ranking of Switzerland's richest compiled by «Bilanz».  The Swiss magazine features banking dynasties which have flourished over centuries.

Swiss bankers like ex-UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel, former Credit Suisse as well as UBS boss Oswald Gruebel, and long-standing Deutsche Bank boss Josef Ackermann made the rich ranking, but as executives and not bankers. 

Ospel is the richest of the three, with $150 million to $200 million, according to the ranking. The disgraced UBS chairman even outranks Rainer Gut, the longstanding Credit Suisse boss (the 86-year-old still maintains an office at the Zurich-based bank's headquarters, and his son sits on the board).

Family Branches

The bankers are commoners in comparison to Switzerland's actual richest in finance. Lily Safra, the widow of banker Edmond Safra, lives in Geneva, where she controls a billion-dollar fortune and devotes much of her time to philanthropy. Her substantial riches pale in comparison to another branch of the family under Joseph Safra.

His Safra Group controls private bank J. Safra Sarasin as well as institutes in Brazil and the U.S. and London's Norman Foster-designed «Gherkin» skyscraper. At an estimated nearly $20 billion, his family is among Switzerland's richest. The Sarasin family, which sold the bank of the same name to the Safras in 2011, are worth an estimated $700 million to $800 million. 

Royal Fortunes

The richest individual ranked by banking alone is Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, who has several billion ahead of the next wealthiest. His family not only controls the LGT Group but also a portfolio of more than $3 billion on behalf of the royal family. «Bilanz» estimates the family's net worth at $9 to $10 billion.

The second-richest banker's ties to finance are also more of a means to an end: the Hinduja family's bank is based in Geneva, where Prakash Hinduja (pictured below) lives. The British-Swiss businessman controls roughly $5 to $6 billion in total.