Josef Meinrad Ackermann (born 7 February 1948) is a Swiss banker, former chairman of the

Bank of Cyprus The Bank of Cyprus (BoC; ; ) is a Cypriot financial services company established in 1899 with its headquarters in Strovolos. Bank of Cyprus has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervisio ...

, and former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

. He has also been a member of the

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

-based financial advisory body, the

Group of Thirty The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sec ...

Early life

He was born in

Walenstadt Walenstadt is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is located on Lake Walen (also known as "Lake Walenstadt"). Geography Walenstadt has an area of . Of this area ...

, Canton of St. Gallen,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, raised in

Mels Mels is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the Seeztal, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. History Mels is first mentioned in 765 as ''Maile'' though this comes from a later copy of the original document. ...

in a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

home, and is a graduate of the

University of St. Gallen The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...

(HSG). After studying economics and social sciences at the

in Switzerland, he continued his time there as a research assistant at the Department of Economics and went on to receive a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in the subject.

Career

After leaving university Ackermann went to work in 1977 for the Swiss multinational investment bank

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

, which he left in 1996. In the same year he joined the board of directors of the

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. He served as chairman of the board from 2002 to 2012. In March 2019 the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

reported that Ackermann was aware of the business dealings between the New York branch of the bank and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Ackermann agreed at the end of 2009 to continue as chief executive of Deutsche Bank for another three years until 2013. At the annual shareholder meeting in late May 2012, he "handed over the CEO baton" to co-CEOs Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen. According to the ''

Financial Times Deutschland The ''Financial Times Deutschland'' was a German-language financial newspaper based in Hamburg, Germany, published by Bertelsmann's Gruner + Jahr newspaper and magazine division. The daily contained four sections: Business, Politics & Economy, Fi ...

'' Ackerman earned €9.4 million in 2009 and €8.8 million in 2010. His included bonus in 2009 was €8.2 million and €7.1 million in 2010. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally ...

. Other positions held: * Second deputy chairman of

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the posit ...

(but he has announced his resignation in September 2013) * Director of Renova Management part of

Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (born April 14, 1957) is a Russian-Israeli businessman and oligarch. He is the founder and chairman of Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate. According to ''Forbes'', as of November 2021, his fortune is estimated at ...

Renova Group Renova Group is a Russian conglomerate (company), conglomerate with interests in aluminium, oil, energy, telecoms and a variety of other sectors. The main owner and president is Viktor Vekselberg who founded the company in 1990. The Renova Grou ...

* Non-executive director of

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

* Visiting professor of finance at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

* Visiting professor at the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

* President of the board of trustees of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies * President of the board of patrons of the Institute for Corporate Culture Affairs * Chairman of the board of directors of the

Institute of International Finance The Institute of International Finance (IIF) is the association or trade group for the global financial services industry. It was created by 38 banks of leading industrialized countries in 1983 in response to the international debt crisis of the ...

* Bilderberg Meetings attendee 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 * Chairman of the board of directors of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

* Advisory board member of Macro Hive Days after retirement and on the eve of a conference call by G7 finance ministers and central bank governors on the continuing European debt crisis, Ackerman said in a speech to the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

that "Germany will ultimately take whatever steps renecessary to keep the euro zone intact", according to one report. The country "is moving cautiously because it simply fears that countries on the European periphery will stop reform measures if they see that

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

is going to guarantee everything", he continued.Robb, Greg
"German
y] will rescue euro zone: Ackermann", ''MarketWatch'', June 4, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-05. He was a non-executive director of

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

from 2000 to 2002.

Return to banking

In November 2014 he was elected as chairman of the board of directors of the

following the proposal of the new major shareholder of the bank

Wilbur Ross Wilbur Louis Ross Jr. (born November 28, 1937) is an American businessman who served as the 39th United States Secretary of Commerce from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ross was previously cha ...

, who later became the

Commerce Secretary The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to Commerce, commerce. The sec ...

in the

first Trump administration Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump First inauguration of Donald Trump, was inaugurated as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president, and ended on January ...

Personal life

He is married to Pirkko Mölsä.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackermann, Josef Meinrad 1948 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Bank of Cyprus Deutsche Bank people Directors of Shell plc Group of Thirty Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group People from Walenstadt Swiss bankers Swiss chief executives Swiss corporate directors Swiss Roman Catholics University of St. Gallen alumni Vodafone people