k-flash audio commentWithout Prejudice
k-flash audio commentWithout Prejudice

The case

Tidjane Thiam has reduced his Zurich years to a mere footnote.

Source: Financial Times – published 29 August 2025 by Patrick Jenkins FT’s deputy editor – Without Prejudice: A memoir by Tidjane Thiam – published by William Collins, 224 pages

The commentary

In Without Prejudice, former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam offers a memoir that is as much a reflection on racism and identity as it is a chronicle of his career. Published just weeks ahead of the presidential elections in his native Côte d’Ivoire, where he now leads the Democratic Party, the timing of its release is no coincidence.

Thiam’s years in Zurich marked a pivotal chapter in his professional life. In his book, he claims he was misled about the true state of Credit Suisse upon taking the helm. While he defends the restructuring measures he introduced, he largely avoids serious self-examination, particularly when it comes to the espionage scandal that ultimately led to his resignation. His mention of being named Banker of the Year in 2018 feels oddly forced and overly self-congratulatory.

What is perhaps most revealing is Thiam’s assertion that his greatest error was “misjudging the Zurich microcosm, and the Swiss in general, and failing to understand that they were determined to remove me from this job at any cost.” Yet readers hoping for fresh insight into his turbulent time in Switzerland may be disappointed. The Zurich years – clearly a painful chapter – are treated as little more than a footnote.

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