The president of the Swiss insurance firm Visana, Urs Roth, took his own life on Monday, the firm has announced. In recent years, several top Swiss executives have killed themselves.
This content was published on
1 minute
RTS/sb
العربية
ar
انتحار رئيس مجلس إدارة شركة فيزانا للتأمينات الصحية
“It is with great sadness that we inform you about the death of our Chairman of the Executive Board, Mr. Urs Roth, who took his own life yesterday,” Visana said in a brief statementExternal link.
Without any further explanations, the Bern group said it extended its condolences to Roth’s family and friends and said his deputy, Valeria Trachsel, would take over in the interim period.
Born in 1960, Roth joined Visana in 1995. As a trained lawyer, he climbed the ranks and was promoted to the management board in 2001. He became president in 2015.
Under his leadership, the number of insured persons at Visana passed the 800,000-mark in 2016, with business picking up. Visana recorded a CHF200 million net profit in 2017.
Several high-profile suicides have occurred in recent years among the top managers of Swiss companies.
In 2016, Zurich Insurance announced that Martin Senn, its former chief executive, had taken his own life, six months after he left the firm. This came three years after Zurich’s finance director, Pierre Wauthier, also died by suicide.
Also in 2013, Carsten Schloter, CEO of the state-owned telecoms company Swisscom, took his own life. In 2008, Alex Widmer, chief executive of Julius Baer, the Swiss private bank, also killed himself.
More
More
Suicide highlights Swiss executive stress
This content was published on
Zurich Insurance has announced that Martin Senn, its former chief executive, has taken his own life, six months after he quit the Swiss insurer under a cloud. His death came three years after Pierre Wauthier, then Zurich’s finance director, also took his own life. Other high profile suicides include Carsten Schloter, chief executive of telecoms…
Direct trains to run from Zurich to Florence and Livorno
This content was published on
The Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia will offer direct trains from Zurich to Florence and Livorno and vice versa from 2026.
Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit
This content was published on
The Swiss armed forces had an effective headcount of around 147,000 as of March 1, 2024. This exceeds the upper limit of 140,000 specified in the army organisation by 5%.
More than 400,000 cross-border commuters now work in Switzerland
This content was published on
More than half of all cross-border commuters were resident in France (around 57%). Large proportions also lived in Italy (23%) and Germany (around 16%).
Amherd and von der Leyen discuss ongoing Swiss-EU negotiations
This content was published on
Swiss President Viola Amherd and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have met and talked about the ongoing negotiations between Bern and Brussels.
This content was published on
One million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold: this is the fortune that two Swiss nationals are accused of having moved across borders for at least four years.
Girls in female-dominated classes earn more later on
This content was published on
At the age of 30, women from school classes with a 55% share of girls earn $350 more per year than women from classes with a 45% share of girls.
This content was published on
Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont reported a downturn in performance for the first half of its 2024/25 financial year. Both sales and profit declined.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Suicide highlights Swiss executive stress
This content was published on
Zurich Insurance has announced that Martin Senn, its former chief executive, has taken his own life, six months after he quit the Swiss insurer under a cloud. His death came three years after Pierre Wauthier, then Zurich’s finance director, also took his own life. Other high profile suicides include Carsten Schloter, chief executive of telecoms…
This content was published on
Senn spent ten years at Zurich, six of them as CEO until the 59-year-old abruptly left the firm on December 1 last year. “With the passing of Martin, we lose not only a highly valued former CEO and colleague but also a close friend. Our thoughts are with his bereaved family and friends, to whom…
This content was published on
A police spokesman, citing information from the Forensic Medicine Institute, said third party involvement in his death could be ruled out. In announcing Wauthier’s death, Zurich Insurance, Switzerland’s largest insurance company, said it would not disclose further details out of consideration for his family. “The Board of Directors, Group Executive Committee and all of our colleagues…
This content was published on
Communications Minister Doris Leuthard was present at the service, in addition to Swisscom President Hansueli Loosli and other members of the Swisscom management. Also present were the heads of the Swiss Federal Railways and Swiss Post, plus numerous representatives of business, politics and the Army. Schloter’s wife – from whom he had separated – and…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.