Martin Senn is the second Zurich executive to take his own life in the last three years
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The former Chief Executive of Zurich, Martin Senn, has taken his own life, months after leaving the insurance and financial services company. His death on Friday follows the suicide of another top Zurich executive three years ago.
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swissinfo.ch with agencies
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 we extend our deepest sympathies,” the company said in a statement.
Senn began his distinguished career in Swiss financial services with SBV bank, the forerunner to UBS, 26 years ago in Hong Kong. He later worked at Credit Suisse before switching to Zurich.
His death is the second such tragedy to befall Zurich within three years.
In August 2013, Zurich’s Chief Financial Officer Pierre Wauthier also committed suicide. Wauthier’s death led to the resignation of group chairman Josef Ackermann, although a subsequent review cleared him of responsibility for the suicide.
Also in 2013, Carsten Schloter, CEO of the state-owned telecoms company Swisscom, took his own life.
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Review clears Zurich Insurance in CFO’s suicide
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A review overseen by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) into the company’s role in Wauthier’s suicide found that he was not subjected to “undue pressure” at work and that Zurich’s management was not at fault. Circumstances surrounding the 53-year-old’s death had suggested otherwise. In a typed suicide note, Wauthier reportedly blamed Ackermann for…
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In a company release, Ackermann said his colleague’s untimely death had profoundly affected him and that he felt partially responsible. The 53-year-old Wauthier was found in his home in Zug on Monday morning, with preliminary reports indicating a suicide. “The unexpected death of Pierre Wauthier has deeply shocked me. I have reasons to believe that…
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An inquest will determine the circumstances of his death, but police are currently treating the death as suicide. Further details were not given out of respect for the family. He was separated from his wife, with whom he had three children. Schloter, a German national, joined Swisscom in 2000 as the head of the firm’s…
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