CEOs

  • 16 Feb 2007 at 11:27 AM
  • Banks

Who Is Brady Dougan? Marathons, Diet Soda, America, Cross-Dressing and Derivatives. A DealBreaker Media Roundup

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bradydougantakesovercreditsuisse.jpgIt’s now been a full day since Credit Suisse announced it had tapped American Brady Dougan to be its next chief executive. Everyone’s been scrambling to figure out just who this Dougan fellow is and what it means. Fortunately, DealBreaker spent our morning scouring the business media for news, insights and colorful stories so you don’t have to. Bloomberg, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal‘s “Heard on the Street” seem to have all the best stuff. And since it’s Friday, and we love to do Media Roundups on Fridays, we bring you the Brady Dougan Media Roundup.
Beverage Preference: Diet Dr. Pepper, according to the New York Times. This clashes with a 2005 Business Week story claiming Dougan was a Diet Pepsi enthusiast.
To add to the confusion, the NYT notes “When the executive board of Credit Suisse went to dinner at the Savoy in Zurich Wednesday night to celebrate his appointment, Mr. Dougan dined on agnoletti and Diet Coke.”
The unanswered questions: Has Dougan always preferred Diet Dr. Pepper? Has he switched? Or did someone get this detail wrong? Is Diet Dr. Pepper unavailable at the Savoy in Zurich?
DealBreaker was too ashamed to contact Credit Suisse with these pressing questions.
Nationality: American. First American ever to run Credit Suisse.
Exercise Preference: Marathons, according to the NYT, the Wall Street Journal and just about everyone else. The NYT has the killer detail—”his best time was 2 hours and 21 minutes (a pace of about 5 minutes and 40 seconds a mile).” Sometimes works out twice a day (NYT).
Personality type: He’s a “shy workaholic” (Times) who sometimes works “18 hour days” (WSJ).
Work ethic: “Legendary” (NYT). Known to arrive at work at 5 am.
Age: Forty-seven, which as almost everyone notes, makes him the youngest head ever of “a global banking giant” (NYT).
Fashion statement: It seems that everyone notes he doesn’t wear cuff-links. But this is old news. Business Week noted it in 2005. Who wears cuff-links in 2007 anyway? The NYT goes further, describing Dougan as ” disheveled.”
Marital status: Divorced. Two kids. (NYT)
Social life: “Intensely private” the NYT notes, adding that Dougan “does not appear in the social pages nor does he seem to revel in the fine wine and bright lights of Manhattan’s financial elite.” Indeed, a search of NYSocialDiary.com found not one entry for Dougan.

Financial background: He started out as a derivatives guy, and his elevation makes him the first derivatives guy to run a global banking institution. (Bloomberg)
Managerial Reputation: He’s a famous cost-cutter. He cut back on town cars (NYT), color copying and staff parties (Bloomberg)

Risks: “A question mark is Mr. Dougan’s ability to lead Credit Suisse’s other core business, wealth management,” the WSJ says.
Hidden Talent: From the Times of London: “he has twice dressed up at corporate functions as the blonde one in Abba. The female one, that is. Agnetha. Apparently the Swiss contingent weren’t terribly amused.”

Stepping Lively at Credit Suisse [New York Times]

The American in Zurich [Wall Street Journal]

Dougan Leads Derivative Traders to First Top Bank Job [Bloomberg]

Say Hello To Your New Boss: Brady Dougan Takes Over At Credit Suisse

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bradydougantakesovercreditsuisse.jpg
Despite the complaints we constantly hear about the outsized power of the Swiss from some of our favorite bankers at Credit Suisse here in New York, especially those few still lingering around from the days before they erased the name First Boston from the earth, Credit Swiss just put a young American in its corner office.

Credit Suisse Group, rebounding from years in the shadow of its bigger rival UBS AG, reported record fourth-quarter earnings of 4.67 billion francs ($3.8 billion) and elevated Brady Dougan, a former derivatives trader, to succeed Oswald Gruebel as chief executive officer.
The promotion of the 47-year-old Dougan, who started his career 25 years ago at New York-based Bankers Trust Corp., makes him the first American to take sole possession of the executive suite at the second-largest Swiss bank and shows the growing influence of Wall Street on the global capital markets.

So who is this Brady Dougan fellow who has conquered the gnomes? Dougan first came to widespread public attention when he took over Credit Suisse’s investment bank in 2004 after the departure of John Mack. At the time, he was said to be the youngest CEO on Wall Street. According to a 2005 Business Week article, “Brady W. Dougan bears few of the outward signs of power on Wall Street. He doesn’t wear flashy cuff links. He doesn’t play golf. And he doesn’t drink fine wines — just Diet Coke.”
He’s also known as a controversial cost-cutter who let go an prominent high-yield bond banker, spun-off the private equity business just before private equity became the next big thing, and notoriously ordered employees to cut down on office supplies and expenses, such as color copies.
But, of course, our readers are usually our best sources. So we’re turning it over to you. In the comments section below, we invite you to share any rumors or tales of actual encounters with young Brady.

Credit Suisse Promotes Dougan to CEO; Earnings Rise [Bloomberg]

  • 22 Jan 2007 at 11:45 AM
  • CEOs

Jack Welch: Will Everyone Please Stop Picking On Me And My Friends? Please?

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jackwelch.jpgJack Welch is sick and tired of the media harping on high CEO pay, okay? Though he didn’t issue a Godfather-inspired statement about his feelings to the press, he did gather the kiddies round the ye old 92nd Street Y campfire last Thursday night and tell them, “The problem with CEOs is that the board screws up the succession plan. The most egregious payment systems come when someone gets fired, and the board has no ascension plan. Then they have to pay for a new star at another company.” You see, now? It’s the board that messes everything up. The CEO is just an innocent bystander, caught helpless in the crossfire. Daily Intel’s Arianne Cohen also reports that Jackie-boy, estimated at $1 billion, pre-divorce, believes himself to have been “vastly underpaid” and also worries that the media’s scrutiny on CEO pay will cause “good people” to switch to private equity.
On a related note, we have about fifty copies left of the Welch family’s Winning: The Answers; anyone interested, you know where to find us. Otherwise, we’re going to have to make Carney start passing them out next to the AM NY pushers outside the subway as part of his physical therapy program. You don’t want to have to dodge a man on crutches that early in the morning, now do you? He’s small, but boy is he fierce.
Jack Welch (Unsurprisingly) Thinks Media Should Stop Focusing on High CEO Pay [Daily Intel]