In the Swiss CEO Image Ranking by Sonntagszeitung, the top three managers from last quarter’s ranking retained their positions. In the ranking compiled by media analysis company UNICEPTA, ABB CEO Björn Rosengren comes in first. Sonntagszeitung appreciates Rosengren’s presentation of his “formula for success” for the future of the power and automation technology company, saying it is “tried and tested”. Finanz und Wirtschaft covers Rosengren’s proposal to forgo ten percent of his fixed salary amid the COVID-19 pandemic. What is more, the paper highlights the fact that the manager continues to drive ABB’s comprehensive transformation and decentralization, which the company had launched at the end of 2018, in spite of the coronavirus crisis.
Jan Jenisch (LafargeHolcim) “tidies out” and Albert M. Baehny (Lonza) has launched significant investments
Jan Jenisch (LafargeHolcim) has defended his second rank. Since he took over, he “tidied out” at the company, Sonntagszeitung notes, adding that his efforts resulted in the construction materials company for the first time in years “earning its costs of capital”. What is more, the paper praises his handling of the coronavirus crisis. The company’s plants in China have resumed operation and now operate at full capacity. Jenisch is “very confident”, Finanz und Wirtschaft notes, citing his optimistic prognosis according to which the “recovery in other parts of the world will come at a comparable pace”.
Albert M. Baehny, who will lead pharma company Lonza as interim CEO until the end of October, remained at the third rank. His media presence was driven by his plans for high investments, as he plans to invest millions into the production of “promising coronavirus vaccines”, Tages-Anzeiger notes. Basler Zeitung quotes Baehny as urging that this project is to be implemented “as quickly as possible” in order to “save millions of lives”. In the context of the appointment of Pierre-Alain Ruffieux as new CEO of Lonza as of November 2020, several journalists point to Baehny’s very special role. He had to take over as CEO rather unexpectedly and will be able to focus on his responsibilities as chairman of the board of directors again, soon, NZZ am Sonntag adds.
CEOs of Credit Suisse and Nestlé prove themselves in the coronavirus crisis
Thomas Gottstein (Credit Suisse) has improved his position in the CEO Image ranking, rising from seventh to fourth position. NZZ comments that he so far handled the coronavirus crisis quite well – which is quite remarkable considering the fact that he was appointed CEO only in mid-February, meaning he had only one months to get to know the bank and to meet clients and shareholders. NZZ am Sonntag notes that Gottstein managed to make the financial markets forget about “the excesses of the Thiam era”, which had caused “an earthquake” in the banking industry. He managed to make Credit Suisse “belong to the Swiss economy” again, the paper notes.
Nestlé CEO Ulf Mark Schneider proved himself amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well, rising from the sixth to the fifth position. His new strategy has stood the test and the outlook remains optimistic, NZZ notes. L’Agefi adds that Schneider "has a sustainable competitive advantage and excellent financial flexibility".
Further managers that have made it into the CEO Image Ranking after the second quarter of 2020 are Vasant Narasimhan (Novartis, sixth rank), Patrick Frost (Swiss Life, seventh rank) and Sergio Ermotti (UBS, eigth rank). Severin Schwan (Roche) and Joos Sutter (Coop) both came in nineth, with the latter being a newcomer to the ranking. Another newcomer is Vincent Ducrot, who took over at the helm of Swiss Railways (SBB) in April, and who made it to the tenth position.
UNICEPTA has compiled the CEO rating based on 1,747 media reports published from January to June 2020 by leading Swiss media outlets, as well as from German outlets Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Handelsblatt, and reputed international outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Economist. The ranking is based on UNICEPTA’s “SMI Benchmark”, with which the provider for Media & Data Intelligence continuously records the media presence of all SMI-listed companies plus Swiss Post, SBB, Coop, Glencore and Migros. The media presence of the companies’ CEOs and the tonality of the reporting are also surveyed.