5. John Cryan: Attracting Crisis
John Cryan is one of the tragic figures in the finance industry. He was promoted to CFO of UBS in 2008 and had to report a loss of 20 billion francs in his first year in charge. First under the lead of Rohner and later Gruebel, Cryan implemented the rescue plan, including job cuts and write-offs to the tune of billions of francs.
He never was able to reap the fruits of his work. He left the bank in 2011 for personal reasons, before the plan was fully accomplished. The next adventure held more allure: in 2015, he took over at Deutsche Bank, sharing responsibility with Juergen Fitschen. A year later, he was in sole charge of Germany’s largest bank.
His goal: getting an ailing firm back on track. However, Cryan failed to break through the cross-cutting lines of interests and powerful pressure groups and his time at the bank finally proved a wasted opportunity. A plunging share prince ended his time in Germany in April 2018.
