Josef Ackermann

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Josef Ackermann at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010

Josef Ackermann ( Josef Meinrad "Joe" Ackermann ) (born February 7, 1948 in Walenstadt , Canton St. Gallen , Switzerland ; resident in Mels ) is a Swiss bank manager . From 2002 to 2006 he was the 18th Board Spokesman and from 2006 to the end of May 2012 he was the sole Chairman of the Board of Management and the Group Executive Committee of Deutsche Bank AG . From March 2012 to the end of August 2013 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zurich Insurance Group . From November 20, 2014 to May 14, 2019, he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bank of Cyprus .

Career

origin

Josef Ackermann was born in Walenstadt as the son of the country doctor Karl Ackermann from Mels in St. Gallen . Ackermann grew up with his two brothers in Mels in a Catholic home.

education

After graduating from high school , Josef Ackermann studied economics and social sciences at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) until 1973 . He completed his studies with a licentiate in banking .

From 1973 onwards he worked as a research assistant at the Research Association for Economics at the same university. In 1977 he was awarded a doctorate by the money and growth critic Hans Christoph Binswanger on the "Influence of money on real economic events". oec. PhD . In his dissertation, Ackermann, contrary to neoclassical theory, takes the position that money is not neutral towards the real economy , but on the contrary has a considerable influence on the real economy . Because new money is created by lending and the creation of money by the banking system [is] a necessary condition for the investment and growth process in the labor-based money economy . At the same time, the banks are interested in the greatest possible lending. Since the profit increases with a positive interest rate differential with the amount of loans granted. The interest of the banks leads to the fact that the money supply is constantly growing, be it that the money is faced with real values ​​or not.

Until 1989 he was a lecturer in monetary policy and monetary theory at the HSG.

Private life

Ackermann has been married to Finnish Pirkko Mölsä since 1977 - she is also a HSG graduate - and has a grown-up daughter. He is considered a hobby musician ( piano , singing ) and a great opera lover . In his youth Ackermann practiced athletics .

Career

Josef Ackermann (2010)

Credit Suisse

After completing his doctorate, Ackermann held several management positions at Credit Suisse (then Schweizerische Kreditanstalt SKA ) from 1977 . He has worked in New York, Lausanne and London, among others. From 1990 he was a member of the bank's board of directors and was elected chairman in 1993. With the assumption of this function he was after Rainer E. Gut as the "number two" of the parent company CS Holding . During his term of office, he took over the Swiss Volksbank (1993), which shortly afterwards was completely absorbed by Credit Suisse.

In July 1996 he finally left Credit Suisse after disagreements with the Board of Directors .

Joined Deutsche Bank

In the same year Ackermann became a board member of Deutsche Bank . There he initially took over the credit risk division, and later the market risk, treasury and economics divisions. From 1998 he was responsible for the “Global Companies and Institutions” division, which, in addition to major customer business, primarily included investment banking . His successes include the integration of the US investment bank Bankers Trust, which was taken over in 1999 .

As early as September 2000, the Board of Management of Deutsche Bank elected Ackermann as Rolf-E's successor with effect from May 2002 . Breuer as his spokesman and chairman of the group management. The nomination came unusually early at this point.

Head of Deutsche Bank

As a Swiss, Ackermann was to become the first foreign boss of Deutsche Bank.

Ackermann's fixed salary has remained unchanged since 2003 at 1.15 million euros, and he also received performance-related remuneration components that in some years have exceeded 10 million euros. In 2004 and 2005 he was the top earner among the managers of the companies listed in the German Stock Index (DAX) . In view of the financial crisis , Ackermann waived his performance-related salary component for 2008.

In February 2005, Ackermann set the bank's public target of a return on equity of 25 percent.

On February 1, 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management. In January 2007, Ackermann stated in an interview that he wanted to end his career in 2010 without moving to the supervisory board. He wants to pass on his experiences, "at university or perhaps in the social field" .

At the end of April 2009, after Deutsche Bank returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2009, the Supervisory Board offered Ackermann a contract extension until 2013. Ackermann accepted this offer. On July 25, 2011, it became known that Ackermann would give up his position as CEO in favor of a dual leadership made up of Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen at the end of May 2012 .

In March 2019, the New York Times reported that Josef Ackermann was informed about the lossy business connections between the future President of the United States , Donald Trump , and the bank's New York branch.

Mannesmann trial

From January 2004 Josef Ackermann had to answer before the Düsseldorf Regional Court . The indictment against him and five other parties involved in the so-called Mannesmann trial - including the former CEO of Mannesmann AG, Klaus Esser , and the former IG Metall chairman Klaus Zwickel - was for breach of trust . The defendants were suspected of having damaged the Düsseldorf group in the course of the takeover by Vodafone in February 2000 through excessive bonus payments to Esser and other managers of around 110 million marks (approx. 58 million euros).

Ackermann made at the beginning of the process, on 21 January 2004, for a considerable stir by saying: ". This is the only country where those who have success and create value, are therefore brought to justice" remained in the memory of the public also his fingers spread in a " V " before the start of the process. According to his own information, Ackermann jokingly imitated Michael Jackson, who was on trial at the same time, with this gesture . The gesture came about when Ackermann had to wait 40 minutes for the late presiding judge and was surrounded by photographers.

The Regional Court Dusseldorf ended the proceedings against Josef Ackermann and five co-defendants on 22 July 2004 with acquittal , while the prosecution revision lodged. On December 21, 2005, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the judgment of the Düsseldorf Regional Court and the proceedings were referred back to another criminal division of the Regional Court.

The second trial before the Düsseldorf Regional Court ended in November 2006 with the discontinuation of the proceedings against monetary conditions in accordance with Section 153a (2) StPO .

Ackermann had to pay 3.2 million euros of the monetary requirements totaling 5.8 million euros. If sentenced to a fine, the highest possible penalty would have been 3.6 million euros (720 daily rates of 5,000 euros) and Ackermann would have had a criminal record. In this case, Ackermann had announced his resignation.

Chairman of the Board of Directors at Zurich Insurance Group

From March 2010 to March 2012, Ackermann was Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich Financial Services AG , which is now called Zurich Insurance Group after its name change . On March 29, 2012, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. He took up his post at the beginning of June, after resigning as Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank at the end of May. In the meantime, the Vice Chairman was in charge of the Board of Directors. After the suicide of the CFO Pierre Wauthier, Ackermann announced his immediate resignation as Chairman of the Board of Directors and as a member of the Board of Directors on August 29, 2013. He was responding to allegations from the bereaved. Ackermann was exonerated by an investigation initiated by the Swiss Financial Market Authority (Finma); Wauthier was not exposed to any “undue or inappropriate pressure” from Ackermann or any other decision-maker.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Cyprus

From November 20, 2014 to May 14, 2019, Josef Ackermann was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of Cyprus .

Ackermann's image in public

Ackermann's public image as a manager is changeable. Ackermann caused widespread negative reactions, including Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder , in spring 2005 when he announced a new record result for Deutsche Bank and, at the same time, the reduction of over 6,000 jobs.

After the financial markets slipped again in spring 2008 due to liquidity problems at Bear Stearns , he called for "concerted action by governments, central banks and market participants" to prevent the financial crisis from spilling over into the real economy. Ackermann was criticized for his call for state intervention. Federal Minister of Economics Michael Glos said that the call for help from the state is now sounding from the same floors from which less government is otherwise required.

Ackermann now began to work on his public image. He also appeared on talk shows and gave interviews in which he also talked about his private life. In the period that followed, there were numerous articles in the media about him and Der Tagesspiegel wrote, for example, in February 2008 that Ackermann had "developed from the most hated manager in Germany to a pioneer and bearer of hope" since 2006 . It was also beneficial for his reputation that he was the first manager of a German bank to comment on the “subprime crisis” in September 2007 and also admitted that Deutsche Bank had made mistakes.

For the international financial markets, Ackermann, in response to the subprime crisis, called for a global council of experts, "a group of wise men and women who, for example, within the framework of the International Monetary Fund, monitor developments in the financial markets and raise the alarm in the event of imminent danger" .

When the global financial crisis had clearly spread to Germany, Ackermann's role at the helm of Deutsche Bank again became the focus of public criticism. In October 2008, Ackermann announced to the Bildzeitung that he would forego profit-related bonus payments and described this as a “personal sign of solidarity”. As a result, Ackermann was again widely praised by, among others, Bild and Spiegel . Critics from politics and the media, on the other hand, drew attention to the fact that Deutsche Bank was unlikely to make any profit in 2008 (see above), and criticized that Ackermann had waived bonus payments by public display that he would not have received one way or another.

Robert von Heusinger criticized Ackermann's declared return target of 25 percent. In the long run, except in monopolies, this cannot be achieved without significant incidental damage. The discussion about the level of return targets continues to this day. Ackermann's doubts about Greece's ability to repay and the return on equity of 25 percent targeted by Deutsche Bank were publicly condemned by members of the German government.

As a derivation from Ackermann's name, the phrase "Acker Men" by some persons (as such by the Bundestag - Vice President Petra Pau ( The Left ) in 2007, the DGB chairpersons Michael Sommer 2008 and SPD chairpersons Franz Muentefering 2009) as negative Term ( metonymy ) used for managers who, in their opinion, are characterized by particularly irresponsible behavior.

Attac took the award as “ European Banker of the Year ” 2009 by the financial press as an opportunity to give Ackermann a negative prize.

In August 2010, Ackermann positioned himself as a signatory of the Energy Political Appeal , a lobbying initiative of the four large electricity companies to promote the extension of the service life of German nuclear power plants.

The former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund , Simon Johnson , described Ackermann in an interview with the Berlin daily newspaper as "one of the most dangerous bank managers in the world". Ackermann's targeted return on equity of 20 to 25 percent is only possible "because he knows exactly that Deutsche Bank represents a systemic risk and would therefore be saved by taxpayers if bankruptcy threatens". Deutsche Bank currently only has an equity ratio of 4 percent. If the financial system is to be secure, however, this would have to be 20 to 45 percent of the balance sheet total.

On December 7, 2011, Ackermann escaped a letter bomb attack committed by the Italian anarchist group Federazione Anarchica Informale .

Others

Josef Ackermann at the 40th St. Gallen Symposium in May 2010

Awards

Movies

literature

Web links

Commons : Josef Ackermann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Josef Ackermann  - in the news
Wikiquote: Josef Ackermann  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Josef Ackermann in the Munzinger archive , accessed on September 26, 2012 ( beginning of article freely available)
  2. ↑ a b Ten Things You Didn't Know About The Top Banker. In: Handelsblatt , May 28, 2010.
  3. ^ Zurich Insurance Group AG. ( Memento from January 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Commercial Register of the Canton of Zurich, Internet excerpt. Retrieved May 4, 2012
  4. ↑ Claude Chatelain: “Much will change”. In: Tages-Anzeiger from January 19, 2012
  5. ↑ Ruedi Mäder: What Ackermann's ex-media boss knows about the top banker. Tagesanzeiger, Zurich, September 13, 2013, accessed on September 23, 2013 .
  6. ^ Award for controversial Joe Ackermann. In: St. Galler Tagblatt from November 17, 2010
  7. ↑ a b c "Influence of money on real economic events", quoted after speaking time WDR5, broadcast on July 30, 2012, guest: Prof. Hans Christopher Binswanger, economist - Text: Fleischmann: Archived copy ( Memento from April 9, 2014 in Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Sacha Ercolani: Fighting Prejudice. ( Memento of March 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: Der Sonntag of May 15, 2010
  9. ↑ Sacha Ercolani: Banker's daughter becomes entrepreneur. In: The Sunday of March 3, 2012
  10. ^ Annual Report 2008: Remuneration of the members of the Board of Management in: Deutsche Bank
  11. ↑ a b Hanno Mussler: Ackermann renounces - but what? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , October 17, 2008.
  12. ^ A b Marc Brost , Robert von Heusinger : The magical quarter. In Die Zeit , February 3, 2005.
  13. ↑ Josef Ackermann: 2010 ends in: Manager Magazin from January 21, 2007
  14. ↑ Deutsche Bank: Board contract with Dr. Josef Ackermann is to be extended in: Deutsche Bank of April 27, 2009
  15. ^ Double leadership at Deutsche Bank ( Memento from August 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), boerse.ARD.de, July 25, 2011
  16. ↑ David Enrich: Deutsche Bank and Trump: $ 2 Billion in Loans and a Wary In The New York Times , Jan. March 2019
  17. ↑ Deutsche Bank: Joe Ackermann involved in Trump loans In: Handelszeitung , March 19, 2019
  18. ↑ Helmut Höge : Ackermann in the vicious circle. In: the daily newspaper , October 22, 2008, accessed on September 26, 2012.
  19. ↑ Oliver Stock: Josef Ackermann - the eternally misunderstood. In Handelsblatt , May 17, 2010.
  20. ↑ Joachim Jahn : Mannesmann trial before the end. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , November 24, 2006
  21. ↑ Jürgen Dunsch: Without judgment. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , November 24, 2006.
  22. ↑ Ackermann resigns if convicted Handelsblatt February 2, 2006
  23. ↑ Zurich General Meeting approves dividend of CHF 17.00 and name change - Josef Ackermann new Chairman. ( Memento of April 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Press release Zurich Financial Services, March 29, 2012
  24. ^ Josef Ackermann on the presidential chair of the «Zurich». In: NZZ Online from March 29, 2012
  25. ^ Basler Zeitung : Ackermann resigns as Chairman of the Zurich Board of Directors , August 29, 2013.
  26. ↑ Zurich announces the resignation of Josef Ackermann from the Board of Directors - Tom de Swaan takes over the function of the acting Chairman of the Board of Directors. ( Memento of September 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Press release of August 29, 2013
  27. ↑ Werner Enz: Relief for Ackermann. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from November 4, 2013
  28. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  29. ↑ Takis Arapoglou to be the new president of the Bank of Cyprus. stockwatch, February 16, 2019, accessed on May 28, 2019 .
  30. ↑ Efstratios-Georgios (Takis) Arapoglou. Chairman (subject to ECB approval). Bank of Cyprus, accessed May 28, 2019 .
  31. ^ Kanzlerschelte for Josef Ackermann manager magazin , February 13, 2005; Alfred Herrhausen once said: "It is not the question of whether we have power or not, but the question of how we deal with it, whether we use it responsibly or not."
  32. ↑ Gerald Braunberger, Benedikt Fehr and Holger Steltzner : “I have no doubts about the stability of the banking system” In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 20, 2008 (interview).
  33. ↑ Ackermann doesn't mean it that way. In: Spiegel Online , March 19, 2008.
  34. ↑ a b Paola Carega: From the scapegoat to the darling of the Germans. In: swissinfo , February 8, 2008.
  35. ↑ Stefan Kaiser: Once a bogeyman and back. In: Der Tagesspiegel , February 7, 2008.
  36. ↑ Beat Balzli , Armin Mahler: "We are not monsters" In: Spiegel Online , March 3, 2008 (interview).
  37. ↑ Hans-Joachim Dübel: Ackermann and Steinbrück are to blame. In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 26, 2008.
  38. ↑ Hasnain Kazim : Once a villain, always a villain. In: Spiegel Online , October 17, 2008.
  39. ^ Robert von Heusinger : The casino is alive. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , April 27, 2009.
  40. ↑ Schäuble criticizes the financial market and bank boss Ackermann. Reuters Germany, May 23, 2010.
  41. ↑ Are we going to save the euro or the speculators, Mr Ackermann? ZDF , Maybrit Illner , video interview from May 13, 2010
  42. ↑ Speech on Ash Wednesday 2007 ( Memento from April 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Speech text, February 21, 2007
  43. ↑ Reinhard Zweigler: DGB boss expects significant wage increases. In: Ostseezeitung , February 8, 2008 (interview with Michael Sommer ).
  44. ↑ “That doesn't work with the farmers” In: Die Zeit , April 1, 2009.
  45. ↑ a b Title “Banker of the Year” often leads to failure. ( Memento from July 1, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Financial Times Deutschland , November 15, 2010, accessed on November 15, 2010.
  46. ↑ Head of Deutsche Bank receives negative price. in: Attac , accessed April 14, 2011.
  47. ↑ Ulrike Herrmann: “Ackermann is dangerous” In: the daily newspaper , April 13, 2011 (interview with Simon Johnson ).
  48. ↑ Ex-IMF chief economist counts Ackermann among the most dangerous bankers. In: Spiegel Online , April 13, 2011.
  49. ↑ Italian anarchists profess the Ackermann bomb. ( Memento of April 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Financial Times Deutschland , December 8, 2011, accessed on December 8, 2011.
  50. ↑ Governance ( Memento of March 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) in: Bilderberg Conference
  51. ^ Board of Trustees ( Memento of May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed January 15, 2014
  52. ↑ Daniel Hug: Swiss Super battery should bring billion. In: NZZ on Sunday January 31, 2016
  53. ↑ Ackermann was on the ESMT Foundation Board
  54. ↑ Ackermann no longer on the ESMT Foundation Board
  55. ↑ Past Members. Group of Thirty, archived from the original on September 27, 2013 ; accessed on September 24, 2013 (English).
  56. ↑ Dr. Josef Ackermann receives Distinguished Business Leadership Award ( memento from July 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) in: Deutsche Bank from April 29, 2010
  57. ↑ Deutsche Bank and Ackermann honored by Euromoney ( memento of October 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) in: Deutsche Bank of July 9, 2009
  58. ^ Josef Ackermann honored by the American Jewish Committee. ( Memento from June 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) in: Deutsche Bank from November 26, 2007
  59. ↑ Claudia Aebersold Szalay: The world's best as a goal. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , May 3, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Ackermann, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ackermann, Josef Meinrad (full name); Ackermann, Joe (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Manager (Deutsche Bank)
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Walenstadt , Canton of St. Gallen , Switzerland