The former Credit Suisse boss is taking on a new – and very different – role at home.
Out with wealth management and investment banking, in with haute couture and luxury accessories: former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam is poised to join the board of French fashion conglomerate Kering, according to French-language weekly «Jeune Afrique».
Kering, which is run by François-Henri Pinault, the son of French billionaire François Pinault, will propose the French-Ivorian executive four a four-year term at a shareholder meeting next month. Kering owns luxury fashion brands including Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, and Stella McCartney.
Stormy, Successful Tenure
The Paris-based company, in which the Pinault family holds nearly 41 percent stake, recorded a profit of 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) on revenue of 15.9 billion euros (by comparison, Credit Suisse's annual profit last year stood at 3.4 billion Swiss francs ($3.7 billion).
Thiam left Credit Suisse six weeks ago after an espionage scandal around ex-private bank head Iqbal Khan engulfed the bank. The 57-year-old capped his stormy four-and-a-half-year stint at the Swiss bank with a more than two-thirds surge in net profit on the year – and many promises delivered, as finews.com reported.