Everything you need to know about Tidjane Thiam, Credit Suisse's new CEO - Black Excellence

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Everything you need to know about Tidjane Thiam, Credit Suisse's new CEO

• STEFANO POZZEBON
  
• MAR. 10, 2015, 8:37 AM
  
• 1,023

REUTERS/Ben Gurr/Pool

Credit Suisse announced Tuesday that Tidjane Thiam would replace Brady Dougan as CEO, taking the helm at the end of June.

Thiam is the CEO of Prudential, one of Britain's leading insurance companies, a job he has had for almost six years. Prior to that, he worked at Aviva, another British insurer, first as a business developer and then as CEO for Europe.

Thiam was born in Ivory Coast in 1962. His mother was the niece of Ivory Coast's first president, while his uncle on his father's side is Habib Thiam, who was president of Senegal for 10 years.

Thiam himself worked in the Ivory Coast government from 1994 to 1999, working as the boss of the National Bureau of the Technical Studies and Development and a personal economic adviser to President Henri Bédié.

He then became a minister in the country's cabinet, and the World Economic Forum named him one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow.

But then a military coup overthrew Bédié's government in Ivory Coast, and Thiam left the country for France. He had already lived in Paris as a student of the École Polytechnique, the first Ivorian to enter the school, and later as a consultant for McKinsey & Co.

Thiam holds a French citizenship and was awarded the Legion d'Honneure, France's top honorary award, by President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011.

His ties with the UK grew tighter as he progressed at Prudential: In 2012, Thiam was appointed to the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group, and last year he was made an ambassador for British Business.

Thiam is also a board member of 21st Century Fox; he was made a non-executive director there in November.

 

[Groanman]

I hope to high heaven that Tidjane Thiam doesn't ever piss off Tariq.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

I hope to high heaven that Tidjane Thiam doesn't ever piss off Tariq.

Me either.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[Blackking]

Im so extremely happy that the French accepted him like that and that he is able to be in that position
Im positive that the Entire Ivory Coast is

So much better now.
The world is a better place because of this.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Im so extremely happy that the French accepted him like that and that he is able to be in that position
Im positive that the Entire Ivory Coast is

So much better now.
The world is a better place because of this.

 

[Family Man]

Im so extremely happy that the French accepted him like that and that he is able to be in that position
Im positive that the Entire Ivory Coast is

So much better now.
The world is a better place because of this.

Breh..You acting like a little hoe ass nikka. I can now understand why some black folks make strides they don't look back at nikkas with your mentality. nikkas is always salty about something.
Black man denied an opportunity, coli-militants mad. Black man breaks barrier, coli-militants still mad.

 

[mtu wa chuma]

 

[Blackking]

Breh..You acting like a little hoe ass nikka. I can now understand why some black folks make strides they don't look back at nikkas with your mentality. nikkas is always salty about something.
Black man denied an opportunity, coli-militants mad. Black man breaks barrier, coli-militants still mad.

Not only do you not know my mentality,
You wouldn't understand my mentality.

Im not a militant. Why do I have to be a militant just because I'm not excited for every single token? Its not like we haven't seen stories like this every few months.

And im never upset about a black man being denied, I only encourage black men to build up their own... what's wrong with that?


Smh,, at justifying why people like you don't look back. Figures.

 

[Blackking]

What, lol, I said im ecstatic.

We actually need more of Africa's brightest to move to Europe. Idk about you but that would make me happy.

Ntm, all those west African nations paying France colonial money til this day, how else can we keep up the good work without token gatekeepers?


I believe 1/10 of ivory coast budget goes to France... and many industries controlled by


Like I said im happy

 

[kevm3]

Props to him

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Thiam’s Rise to Become First Black CEO of European Bank: Timeline
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byJon Menon
7:33 AM EDT
March 10, 2015


(Bloomberg) -- Tidjane Thiam will become the first black chief executive officer of a European bank when he joins Credit Suisse Group AG. The Ivory Coast-born executive will also be the only black CEO running one of Switzerland’s biggest publicly traded companies. Here’s how he got to his job at Credit Suisse:

1962: Thiam is born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

1984: Graduates in engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique and from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris in 1986. Gets Insead MBA in 1988.


1986 - 1994: Works for management consultant McKinsey & Co. in Paris and London, serving insurance companies and banks.

1994: Leaves McKinsey to become an adviser to an Ivory Coast government that’s deposed in a military coup five years later.

2002 - 2008: Joins U.K. insurer Aviva Plc as strategy director. In 2006, he helps orchestrate a 16.9 billion-pound ($25.5 billion) offer for Prudential, which it rejects. Also held positions as group executive director and CEO, Europe.

2008: Leaves Aviva to join Prudential’s board.

2009: Becomes CEO of Prudential and is the first black man to head one of Britain’s biggest 100 publicly traded companies.

2010: Less than a year into the job, Thiam attempts the biggest takeover in Prudential’s history, the $35.5 billion purchase of American International Group Inc.’s unit in Asia. The deal is aborted after some shareholders said it was too costly. Thiam and then-Chairman Harvey McGrath come under pressure from some investors.

2011: Thiam awarded Legion d’Honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

2013: Prudential is fined 30 million pounds and Thiam is censured for not telling the U.K. finance regulator soon enough that it planned to acquire AIG’s Asian subsidiary.

2014: Thiam named a British Business Ambassador by Prime Minister David Cameron. Joins 21st Century Fox as non-executive director.

2015: Credit Suisse names Thiam to replace Brady Dougan as CEO.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jon Menon in London at jmenon1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simone Meier at smeier@bloomberg.netSteve Bailey, Mark Bentley

 

[GetSomeMoney]

Where's the pic of the wife?

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Where's the pic of the wife?

Mr Thiam's wife, Annette, is African-American. Also extremely bright, she is a lawyer who used to work for Joe Biden before he became Obama's vice-president.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8552164.stm

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Thiam was born in Côte d'Ivoire. He is a descendant of two prominent African families. On his mother’s side, he is a direct descendant of Yamousso, after whom the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, Yamoussoukro, is named. Thiam's mother, Marietou, was the niece of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the founder and first President of Côte d'Ivoire.[6]

His father, Amadou Thiam, a journalist, was born in Senegal and emigrated to Côte d'Ivoire in 1947. He supported Houphouet-Boigny in his fight for the independence of the country and served more than 10 years in the Ivorian cabinet after independence. He was a Grand Officier de la Legion d’honneur, France’s highest order of decoration.[7] Tidjane’s uncle, Habib Thiam, was Prime Minister of Senegal for more than 10 years and also served as President of the National Assembly.

In 1982 Thiam was the first Ivorian to pass the entrance examination to the École Polytechnique in Paris. In 1984, he graduated from the École Polytechnique and in 1986 from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris where he was top of his class.[4]

In 1986 he was offered a scholarship to study for an MBA at INSEAD and join the 'McKinsey Fellows Programme' in Paris.[8] He received an MBA from INSEAD in 1988 (Dean's list). In 1989 he took a one-year sabbatical from McKinsey to participate in the World Bank's Young Professionals Program in Washington, D.C. He returned to McKinsey in 1990, working first in New York City and then in Paris.[4]