But it the dying words of a distraught subordinate may prove the most damaging.
Shortly before Pierre Wauthier, a 53-year-old father of two, took his life on Monday in a placid lakeside community south of Zurich, he wrote a letter blaming pressure from Mr. Ackermann for his despair.
Mr. Wauthier was the chief financial officer of the Zurich Insurance Group. Until his resignation on Thursday, Mr. Ackermann was the chairman and was forcefully trying to lift profits at one of the world’s largest insurers.
Mr. Ackermann’s abrupt resignation a few days after Mr. Wauthier’s death interrupted a career spent fearlessly shaking up the European business world and advocating American-style standards of corporate performance. For many Europeans, the suicide raised questions about how far hard-charging captains of industry should go in their quest for profits.
“There is no doubt that these tragic events have cast a shadow over Zurich,” Tom de Swaan, who was named acting chairman of the insurer, said on Friday in a conference cal
l with analysts.
Mr. de Swaan confirmed the existence of a suicide note by Mr. Wauthier that alluded to a tense relationship with Mr. Ackermann, and he said the board would look into whether the chief financial officer had been under undue pressure. Mr. de Swaan added, though, that there was no indication Mr. Ackermann had behaved inappropriately toward Mr. Wauthier or anyone else.
It is not the first time, though, that Mr. Ackermann, 65, has been at the center of the debate over how to reconcile European values of social equality with the need to remain competitive in the global economy.
As chief executive of the German giant Deutsche Bank, a post he held for a decade until last year, Mr. Ackermann was vilified by left-wing politicians for being Germany’s highest-paid corporate executive. He was even prosecuted for his role in awarding what prosecutors considered an illegal bonus to the executive of a German mobile communications company. Mr. Ackermann, who was on the supervisory board of the company, eventually settled the case by paying a fine.
Mr. Ackermann grew up in a small town in Eastern Switzerland before departing for Zurich, where he rose to be president of Credit Suisse. He then moved to Frankfurt, where he won plaudits for leading Deutsche Bank to the upper ranks of global investment banks.
But since Mr. Ackermann’s retirement from Deutsche Bank, his legacy has suffered. The bank, Germany’s largest, continues to struggle with many lawsuits from aggrieved investors, as well as official investigations related to conduct that took place before the beginning of the financial crisis, when Mr. Ackermann was in charge.
And Deutsche Bank continues to face criticism that it takes too much risk, a practice that stems from Mr. Ackermann’s determination to equal the profitability of Wall Street titans like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Ackermann’s sudden departure from Zurich Insurance puzzled insiders and seemed only to heighten stress on a company already rattled by Mr. Wauthier’s death. Martin Senn, the chief executive, struggled on Friday to try to convince analysts that Mr. Wauthier’s suicide did not signal deeper problems at the company.
“I want to make it crystal clear that there is no link between this news and Zurich’s business and financial results,” Mr. Senn said in a brief conference call on Friday with analysts.
With 60,000 employees and revenue last year of $73 billion, Zurich is one of the world’s largest insurers. It earns about half its revenue in the United States through subsidiaries like its Farmers unit.
Mr. Ackermann has not spoken to reporters, but in a statement on Thursday, he suggested that he had resigned as chairman, a part-time supervisory post, because after the suicide he would no longer be able to push for change as forcefully as he was accustomed.
“I see the possibility of a continued successful board leadership to the benefit of Zurich called into question,” Mr. Ackermann said.
He also alluded to accusations from Mr. Wauthier’s widow that he should take some blame for the suicide but called them “unfounded.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: August 30, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated the surname of the acting chairman of the Zurich Insurance Group. He is Tom de Swaan, not de Swann.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/business/global/zurich-insurance-to-investigate-circumstances-of-suicide.html?partner=rss&emc=rss