Tidjane Thiam became the £3 billion man yesterday after confirmation that the chief executive of Prudential was leaving sent shares in the insurer tumbling and stock in his new home soaring.
Almost £2 billion was wiped off the value of the Pru after Britain’s biggest listed insurer confirmed that its chief executive of five years was jumping ship to run Credit Suisse.
Pru shares slid more than 3 per cent to close 51½p down at £16.12, despite a sharp rise in annual profits and a 10 per cent increase in the full-year dividend.
More than £1.3 billion was added to the value of Credit Suisse, however, with shares in the Zurich-based banking group climbing almost 8 per cent after it emerged that Mr Thiam would be replacing Brady Dougan in the summer, subject to regulatory approval for a new head for the insurer in Britain.
Mike Wells, a 20-year Pru veteran who has been running its American business for the past three years, is understood to be the favourite to succeed Mr Thiam.
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Mr Thiam said yesterday that he expected to be the Pru’s main mouthpiece when it reports on first-quarter trading in May, and would occupy his seat at the annual meeting the following month. However, he shrugged off questions about his decision to leave the insurer, which came as a surprise to shareholders.
“I understand your interest, but I am here to talk about Prudential’s results. We would like to focus as much as possible on the performance of the company . . . very strong numbers and a good performance,” he said.
Analysts and investors made clear that Mr Thiam’s departure would dominate their thinking. Jeremy Whitley, head of pan-European equities at Aberdeen Asset Management, said: “Credit Suisse has got a good man and we’ll await with interest who will replace him and build on the strong foundations he’s laid at the Pru.”
As well as transforming Prudential since he took charge in October 2009, the Ivory Coast-born Mr Thiam will be remembered as the first black chief executive to run a FTSE 100 company.
Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission who now co-runs a diversity analytics business, said: “His appointment was an inspirational moment for people of colour and the fact that he has now gone to another, probably even more significant post will probably be a great boost to people who want to get into this business.”
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The applause for Mr Thiam has not always been so loud, however. A former McKinsey consultant, he joined the Pru in 2008 as financial controller after two years in charge of Europe at Aviva. He was named as the new Man from the Pru in the summer of 2009.
Then, only six months into his leadership, Mr Thiam launched a $35.5 billion bid for AIA, which would have been the biggest deal in insurance industry history. Shareholders were not convinced about the merits, or the price tag, of the transaction and revolted over the lack of financial detail about the deal and the fees being paid to its bankers. Hostility reached fever pitch when Mr Thiam decided to take up a non-executive seat at Société Générale, the French bank, an idea that he quickly had to drop.
During the course of the — ultimately scrapped — bid talks, Mr Thiam also fell foul of the financial regulator and later was publicly censured by the Financial Services Authority for failing to behave “openly and co-operatively”.
Prudential also was fined £30 million by the regulator, which found out about the planned takeover only through media reports.