Documentary sheds light on Zurich CFO suicide

Christian Schnur

New details have come to light about the 2013 suicide of former Zurich Insurance Chief Financial Officer Pierre Wauthier through a documentary film that exposes his difficult relationship with former company chairman Josef Ackermann. 

Wauthier’s family gave the German television channel ARD access to his suicide note in order to produce the film, which will air this week. According to ARD, the former Zurich CFO began the note by referring to Ackermann as “the worst Chairman I have ever met”.  

Wauthier hung himself in his home in Walchwil, canton Zug in August 2013, an event which triggered Ackermann’s resignation as CEO of Zurich. An investigation carried out by FINMA, Switzerland’s financial marketplace supervisory authority, concluded that Zurich had not put any “unreasonable pressure” on Wauthier in his role at the company. 

However, Wauthier’s family did not accept the result of that investigation, testifying to that effect at an April 2014 Zurich shareholders’ meeting and seeking to uncover the details of Wauthier’s struggles through the upcoming ARD film. 

According to the film, Wauthier complained to his wife before his death that Ackermann, the former CEO of Deutsche Bank, was running Zurich Insurance as though it were a bank. The two fought bitterly before the reporting of the company’s 2013 half-year results, and Wauthier spent two days attending 16 meetings at various locations in the week before his death. 

The film also reports that Wauthier and Ackermann’s conflict had to do with details over how to report financial results to investors as well as larger questions over management philosophy. 

A Zurich Insurance media spokesperson told swissinfo.ch that “we are not commenting on the possible content of a television broadcast” in reaction to the revelations presented in ARD’s film.

In June of this year, Zurich was again struck by tragedy when Martin Senn, who was CEO when Wauthier died, also committed suicide. Senn had stepped down from his role at Zurich for unclear reasons some six months before taking his own life.