Hell hath no fury like a CEO scorned
Oswald Grübel head of Credit Suisse until 2007 has captured the opinion of most observers: "If the newspaper reports are correct, then the Board of CS should act immediately and replace the CS CEO Tidjane Thiam, because such behavior is unworthy of a Swiss Bank ».
New details are emerging, fleshing out what might be the strangest company story in Switzerland for many years. In essence, Iqbal Khan, the knight pretender in the succession line for the CS position, left CS abruptly, which left many surprised and raised eyebrows!
According to reporting from the newspaper "Tages-Anzeiger", the conflict between Thiam and Khan began last January. Tidjane Thiam invited Khan and his wife as well as other CS senior managers and their companions to dinner at their home in Herrliberg ZH. The Khans had recently moved into the property next to Thiam's villa. (that’s one way to get ahead!)
At the end of the evening - and apparently with too much alcohol consumed (in vino veritas) – a fierce argument erupted between the 2 men, which was so violent according to witnesses that Khan's wife could only barely separate the two.
Depending on who is asked the dispute may have been about one of two things:
Thiam claims that Khan behaved inappropriately that evening that the conflict had nothing to do with his work at CS. (Some news outlets report that Thiam felt Khan had insulted his girlfriend.)
Khan claims that the conflict had something to do with his performance at Credit Suisse, namely that where Thiam was closely involved in the CS business like Thiam's planned IPO that was called off and the Asian business that failed to meet expectations, wheras Khan's International Asset Management Division was hugely successful, making billions in profits. The alleged interpretation is that Thiam was increasingly unnerved by Khan’s success, even seeing Khan as a threat to his position of power.
Thiam apparently had long regarded Khan as a kind of foster son. "I invented Iqbal," he is said to have always said, according to the Tages-Anzeiger. (and this is how he repays me!)
Iqbal Khan reported the dispute to the Board. Chairman Urs Rohner tried to moderate in the affair but was unsuccessful. Khan felt he was being mobbed and so 5 months later, Khan filed his notice. As of 1 October 2019 Khan will start his new job as co-head of the "Global Wealth Management" division at UBS.
In a termination agreement signed in June, Iqbal Khan undertook not to appoach any of his former colleagues or customers from Credit Suisse. Apparently Thiam did not trust him. Thiam's confidant Pierre O. Bouée and his global security chief Remo Boccali hired “Investigo” from Otelfingen ZH to surveille Khan to see if he was meeting with former colleagues or clients. (What about telephone calls?)
On Tuesday a week ago, Khan and his wife were trailed into Zurich by three burly men in a car. Khan noticed the “detectives”. He stopped his car and took pictures of the license plate as well as the 3 men. These men then tried to wrestle Khan's cell phone away from him and a melee ensued. With the arrival of the police the men bolted but were soon captured. Credit Suisse admitted to the police that they had hired the three men to follow Khan.
And then there are the silly spiteful behaviors. Apparently Tidjane Thiam ordered a couple of huge trees, these are not cheap, and planted them on his property so as to block Khan's view of the lake of Zurich which is about 500 meters away.
People are now torn between keeping up with Game of Thrones, & this soap opera.
