Dancing All The Way To The Bank: The Rise Of City boss Tidjane Thiam

''Invest in your head because it goes with you everywhere…..''

……..Those were the words that were said to Tidjane Thiam as a child by his mother back in in Ivory Coast. He never forgot those words as he rose to become the first black chief executive (of Prudential plc) in London’s FTSE 100. 

He announced this week that he was swapping London for Zurich after quitting

to run investment bank Credit Suisse. With the departure of the 52yr old, 1% of black chief executives in the FTSE 100 has turned into zero. So much was his influence in Prudential that, after his departure was announced, the company’s share price fell 3% thus wiping £1.3billion off its value. He had more than tripled its share price since taking over in 2009.

·         He was born the youngest of seven children in the Ivory Coast.

·         When he was seven, his father, a radio journalist became Ivory Coast’s minister for information.

·         Was educated in Paris, where he was notable a high achiever — in 1982 he was the first Ivorian to pass the entrance examination to the Ecole Polytechnique and graduated top of his class from the Ecole Nationale Superieure.

·         Previously worked in management consultancy at McKinsey and the World Bank.

·         In 1994 he returned to Abidjan to serve as a government minister, overseeing infrastructure projects. 

·         Was tipped to succeed Christine Lagarde as head of the IMF.

·         Relaxed and chatty by nature (known as London City’s “coolest boss”), he’s a magnet for others at parties and threw himself into London’s social scene with the same enthusiasm he shows for work.

·         Married to Annette, an African-American lawyer who worked for Joe Biden before he became Barack Obama’s vice-president.

·         A passionate Arsenal fan, going as often as he can with his two teenage sons (and complaining that Arsene Wenger should quit).

·         Many years ago, he told head hunters that he would no longer go for any new senior jobs unless it was specified at the outset that he was black. He was sick of getting through the interviewing process only to be told at the last minute his face didn’t fit.

With his beautiful wife...

 Generally speaking, Thiam has a deep seated love for inspiring those around him. McGrath cited his friendship with Thiam as one of the reasons he stepped down to do charity work in Malawi and Kenya before returning to London to explore how the business world could benefit Africa.

Dancing all the way to the bank, expanding the wealth management activities in Asia through Credit Suisse will be no easy feat but be rest assured, Thiam will still make time to go dancing.

Tidjane Thiam, first black boss of a FTSE 100 company, will be surely missed at Prudential Plc.!..........culled