Tidjane Thiam: “I had a short and failed political career”

(Agence Ecofin) - In an interview given to the Swiss television, Tidjane Thiam, the new CEO of Credit Suisse describes his amazing career and his views on the banking world.

Full interview (25 minutes) here

He discusses changes in the finance sector, the risks brought about by the excessive speculation, “caution”, "reserves” and “human judgement” which must come back to the forefront of priorities in banking according to him. Ivorian and French, he nevertheless adheres to the Swiss tradition of wisdom, that of Alfred Escher and the founding fathers of the Swiss banking in the 19th century, who put an emphasis on “pragmatism” and “common sense”.

There is extraordinary curiosity about your persona. How do you live with this?

Tidjane Thiam: Some days are more difficult than others. Naturally, I am rather shy, rather reserved, more of an introvert. I have held positions in public office. I therefore had to learn, through the years, to be at ease with this. But I believe there is an excessive personalisation. If I have accomplished things in my career, I was not alone in accomplishing them. We do things in a team, with others.

You have experienced many worlds. Africa, the “grandes écoles” in France, a career in the English-speaking world, ministerial positions. A giant in the insurance world, and now a giant in the banking world. Ambitious? What else?

T.T.: I do not want to come across as hypocritical, but I do not have any personal ambition. I enjoy team success. I like people. I like laughing. I often make bad jokes. I have a rather happy personality. For me a day without laughter is a lost day. What is common to all these experiences is that I was in rather difficult situations. I have never taken on easy jobs. When I was appointed in Côte d’Ivoire, in 1994, my first job being a CEO, I was 31 years old. And the minister of Finance told me: “We forgot to tell you – and by then we were in April – salaries have not been paid since October. So the 4,000 employees have not been paid.” He told me: “Good luck!” (…)

You are often compared to Obama. You are approximately the same age, with one year's difference. Is there an Obama generation?

T.T.: (…) I had the opportunity to meet Obama in 2004-2005. I was then in Tony Blair’s Africa Commission.

Does he fascinate you?

T.T.: I have a lot of respect for public and political service in general. I often need to explain to my peers, in the private sector, that what political leaders do is extremely difficult. I had a short and failed political career, and therefore feel very humble compared to them. Being president of the United States, it is very difficult, and because of his colour, he had to deal with the hostility from certain parts of the American society. (…)

Your destiny was not completely fulfilled in France. Jean-Claude Trichet, when giving you the légion d'honneur said: “You are the man that France should not have let get away”. Today, is it an accomplishment?

T.T.: I do not think in those terms. I followed opportunities. I am in Switzerland today. I take stock of the responsibility vested in me, I know the role of Credit Suisse in the Swiss economy and I will try to not disappoint.

Your journey, born in 1962 in Abidjan. Privileged background, on many sides. How would you describe this background of origin?

T.T.: My God! You are making me think (laughter). These are questions I have never been asked.

All the better…

T.T.: All the best, indeed. (…) My father was very hurt. He had been victim, hit by certain forms of discrimination. Colonial history has been re-written many times. We forget that the Houphouët-Boigny law, in 1945, it was the abolition of forced labour! Those were harsh realities…

Your mother was Houphouët-Boigny’s niece, an African icon. So a privileged background in some ways. But the colonial legacy, did you feel it nonetheless?

T.T.: My father talked about it a lot. He was very frustrated by not having been able to pursue the education he thought he had the intellectual capacity for. He really wanted his kids to have no hang-ups. (…) There was a strong emphasis on school performance and work. We were seven children, let not forget that! A lot of solidarity, but also a lot of competition.

Great learning, academic brilliance, it is a theme in your journey. I have heard you quote from Plato! How does that help in business?

T.T.: I am going to share a confidence with you, ok? Up to the age of 6, I was totally illiterate! I was not going to school, because I was the youngest and my mother would ask me if I wanted to attend school or not. In general, the answer was no. My brother went to denounce my parents! It is an African family… He went to see the president and told him: “There, our parents are raising an illiterate. President Houphouët summoned my parents. It actually happened in Cologny! We had come here to Switzerland. I was 6 years old and I remember it as if it happened only yesterday. There was a sort of family tribunal, where there was an indictment: “He has to go to school. The time of illiterate African princes and lazy kings is over!” Thereafter, I went to school.

And you caught up extremely fast.

T.T.: Yes, exactly.