Daniel Vasella, Novartis
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Daniel Vasella will remain as chairman of the board of Novartis, Basel-based pharmaceutical multinational, but he is stepping down as the multinational’s CEO. The news was announced as Novartis reported an 8 percent increase in profits, $10.3 billion, and turnover of $46 billion for 2009.
Vasella has led the company since the group was created by the merger in 1996 of Ciba and Sandoz.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The CEO of Geothermal Explorers, the company that was drilling as part of a Basel geothermal energy project called Deep Heat, has been cleared of wrongdoing by a court in the city. Charges were brought against Markus Haering after the company’s drilling appeared to provoke earthquakes in Basel in 2006 and early 2007.
The Bank of America will pay the US government $45 billion, the money loaned to it under the Tarp bailout plan. The surprise announcement Wednesday 2 December provides some relief for the federal government, which has been criticized for using taxpayers’ money to keep banks alive, only to see them turn around and pay large bonuses as they return to profitability. Bank of America is looking for a new CEO, and observers say paying back the loan will allow it to offer a better pay package, with less government pressure, but it also makes the bank more vulnerable to risk.
Etas project in Zimbabwe: the Roger Federer Foundation is spending some CHF80,000 a year on the project to improve the infrastructure of 8 schools, as well as investing in teacher training and the quality of education for about 2,000 children in the Matopo region.
Basel and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer has signed a 10-year contract with Swiss bank Credit Suisse, for an undisclosed sum, the bank announced Monday 16 November. Federer, on his web site, notes that “As part of the partnership agreement, Credit Suisse will make a significant annual contribution to the Roger Federer Foundation, which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children and to promoting education, sports and play, particularly in Africa.” The foundation was inspired by Federer’s South African mother and currently states on its web site that its capital is CHF4 million.
The bank’s CEO, Brady Dougan, did not stint in his enthusiastic praise of the Swiss tennis star:
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss industrial group Oerlikon AG announced a drop in sales in the first half of 2009 of 40 percent to CHF1.4 billion, and negative earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of -CHF164 million. The company announced 25 August that its CEO, Uwe Krueger, is stepping down effective immediately and said board member Hans Ziegler will take over until a new CEO can be named.
The company cut 1,500 jobs in the first half of 2009, reduced hours for 2,300 workers, and announced restructuring costs of CHF130m for all of 2009. Oerlikon announced 25 August that it will cut an additional 2,500 jobs.
Related: TSR (Fre)
McDonalds CEO Martin Knoll
Crissier, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Martin Knoll, 51, CEO of McDonald’s Switzerland since 2003, died Friday 21 August in an accident while riding his mountain bike near Engstlenalp, canton Bern, the Crissier, canton Vaud-based company announced.
An Austrian, Knoll joined the company as marketing director for McDonald’s in Austria in 1993. He was was named CEO of the Austrian company in 1997, then vice-president of marketing for 18 countries in Europe and Central Asia, before taking charge of the more than 140 McDonald’s restaurants in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
Steve Jobs of Apple was polite but firm: the time had come for Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, to leave the Apple board of directors because Google’s encroachment of Apple territory had reached the point where Schmidt would have to step out of too many meetings because of a potential conflict of interest. Wired
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Bloomberg reports, based on internal sources who are not identified, that Switzerland’s largest insurer, Zurich Financial Services, is looking at four internal candidates to replace James Schiro as chief executive officer. Schiro retires at the end of 2009 after seven years at the helm. He is widely credited with turning the company’s fortunes around and leading share prices higher: the price has doubled since 2001.
Dermot Mannion has resigned, effective immediately, as CEO of Aer Lingus, to make way for “fresh thinking and fresh ideas” in a difficult market. The company has lost 65 percent of its value in the past year and has been struggling to fend off low-cost carrier Ryan Air, which has offered to buy it. CNN
Boris Collardi, Bank Julius Baer
Zurich, Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) – The new CEO of Bank Julius Baer, Switzerland’s second largest wealth management bank with CHF338 billion under management, is from Nyon: Boris Collardi, age 34. He finished school in Nyon, began his banking career in Geneva at Credit Suisse and studied at IMD in Lausanne.
The CEO of Peugeot in Paris, France has been replaced, and the head of General Motors in the US is on his way out the door, as troubled carmakers in Europea and the US seek a new way forward. The Obama administration has told Rick Wagoner of GM that he must leave and Chrysler that it must form a partnership with Italian carmaker Fiat, in what the New York Times says is a “a level of government involvement in business perhaps not seen since the Great Depression.” In France, Philippe Varin of steelmaker Corus is replacing Christian Streiff as CEO of PSA, reports Le Monde (Fre).
