Urs Rohner (born 1959) is a Swiss lawyer, businessman and banker. He is the former CEO of

ProSiebenSat.1 Media ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Fran ...

and former chairman of Swiss bank

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

. After his 10 year tenure the share price lost 75% of its value leaving the bank engulfed in various scandals and subsequently apologizing for his poor performance at the last shareholder meeting. He is considered one of the worst chairmen in

Swiss banking Banking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland, along with ...

Early life

Rohner was born 1959. He competed as a hurdler in the

1982 European Athletics Championships The 13th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 September to 12 September 1982 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Compl ...

. He earned a master of laws from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

in 1983.

Career

Rohner began his career at the law firm Lenz & Staehelin in Zurich, where he was a partner from 1992 to 1999. He subsequently practised for

Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Known as a white-shoe firm, Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as a leader in business law, and is known for its impact on international affairs, such a ...

in New York City. He served as the chief executive officer of

from 2000 to 2004. Rohner became the chief lawyer at Credit Suisse in 2004. He was its vice chairman from 2009 to 2011. Since 2011, he has served as its chairman. In 2017, he was criticized by investors for his poor performance. Urs Rohner retired in May 2021 from the Board of Credit Suisse - during his 10 year tenure, the stock price has fallen by over 70%. In the last year of his tenure, Rohner appointed Lara Warner with no prior risk management experience to Chief Risk Officer of the bank in a push for diversity. Consequently, Credit Suisse's clients lost around $3bn due to the collapse of

Greensill Greensill is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Angeline Greensill (born 1948), New Zealand academic and Māori activist * Bruce Greensill (1942–2007), Australian rugby union player *Lex Greensill (born 1977), Australian busines ...

. Furthermore, with the collapse of

Archegos Capital Archegos Capital Management was a limited partnership family office that managed the personal assets of Bill Hwang, at one time managing over $36 billion in assests. On April 27, 2022 Hwang was indicted and arrested on federal charges of fraud a ...

Credit Suisse lost over $5.5bn exposing its weak risk management, which Rohner in the aftermath of the financial crisis promised to reform. For his poor performance at Credit Suisse, Urs Rohner received 43.5 million CHF ($47m) in pay. Rohner serves on the board of trustees of the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it current ...

, and the

Zürich Opera House The Zürich Opera House (german: Opernhaus Zürich, links=no) is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zürich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. ...

, as well as the board of governance of the

International Institute for Management Development International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is a private business school in Lausanne, Switzerland specializes in executive education offering open enrollment programs for senior executives, as well as longer-term educational engage ...

Personal life

Rohner is in a relationship with Nadja Schildknecht, the managing director of the

Zurich Film Festival Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, second ...

and has a son with her. He has three children from his first marriage.Erik Nolmans
''Credit Suisse: Der Aufsteiger.''
In: ''

Bilanz ''Bilanz'' is a German language biweekly business magazine published in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2014, the magazine started its edition published in Germany. History and profile ''Bilanz'' was established in 1977 as a successor of ''Wirtschaft ...

'' 23/2010. 17 December 2010 (German).

References

External links

CV
Credit Suisse
munzinger.de
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rohner, Urs Living people University of Zurich alumni Swiss male hurdlers 20th-century Swiss lawyers Swiss bankers Swiss chief executives Swiss chairpersons of corporations Sullivan & Cromwell people ProSiebenSat.1 Media 21st-century Swiss lawyers 1959 births