6. Peter Kurer: Procurer of Money
Peter Kurer was a renowned business lawyer when he joined the bank as head counsel in 2001. It led him straight to replacing Ospel as chairman in 2008, because the difficult recovery period required a pair of safe hands in the shape of a qualified lawyer who also knew the situation well enough from the inside. His performance at UBS has been overshadowed slightly by the fact that he was the top public figure of the bank that had to be saved by the government.
Kurer was largely responsible for getting investors from Singapore and the Gulf on board to lend the bank money it urgently needed. In 2009, when the bank was out of harm’s way, he passed on responsibility to Kaspar Villiger, the former federal finance minister. Gruebel kept his iron grip on the business side of things.
Compared with other players, Kurer went on to pursue a career that spanned a wide range of interests. He is active in private equity, as chairman of Kein & Aber publishers, he writes books and essays, is an active investor and chairman of Sunrise, the telecommunications company.
