Stephen Hester
| Stephen Hester | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 December 1960 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Salary | £13.2 million[1] |
| Title | CEO of RBS Group plc |
| Spouse(s) |
Barbara Abt (m. 1991) [2][3] |
| Children | 5 |
Stephen Hester (born 14 December 1960) is a British businessman and banker, who is the current Chief Executive Officer of the RBS Group.[4]
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Hester is the eldest son of a university chemistry professor and a psychotherapist. He was educated at Easingwold School in North Yorkshire a rural comprehensive school, and at Oxford where he studied at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and after chairing the Tory Reform Group, graduated with a first class honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[4]
Career [edit]
Hester began his career in 1982 with Credit Suisse, where he started as chairman’s assistant.[4] In 1996 he was appointed to the executive board. Hester held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Head of Support Division, until May 2000. From May 2000 to September 2001, he was Head of Fixed Income Division.
In May 2002 he joined Abbey National as Finance Director. He then went on to become Chief Operating Officer, a position he held until November 2004, when he was appointed Chief Executive of British Land. In early 2007, eight months before British Land and other REIT's were caught in the commercial property slump, he said: "I don't believe we are about to see a market decline, but the period of sharp growth is over."[5]
Hester was appointed non-executive deputy chairman of the newly-nationalised Northern Rock by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling in March 2008,[6] a role which he resigned from in September 2008 to take a non-executive position on the board of Royal Bank of Scotland.[7]
Royal Bank of Scotland [edit]
In November 2008 he left British Land and on 21 November 2008 replaced Fred Goodwin as Chief Executive of the RBS Group. Hester is paid an annual salary of £1.1 million by RBS[8]. Alongside this, he took home £6.5m in bonus and pension payments in 2010.[9] In 2012 he was offered a bonus of just under £1 million, following some considerable pressure from politicians and the public, he declined the bonus.[10] Later in 2012, in June, he declined his bonus for the following year after RBS' computer problems.[11]
In December 2009, the board of RBS, in which the United Kingdom government has an 84% stake, threatened to resign unless they were permitted to pay bonuses of £1.5bn to staff in its investment arm.[12] The matter received heavy criticism because it followed a £850bn taxpayer bailout of the banking sector.[citation needed] The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, said he would not be "held to ransom".[13]
Personal life [edit]
In 2010 Hester separated from his wife,[14] fellow banker the Canadian Barbara Abt. The couple, who met while both working at Credit Suisse, have five children. The family home is in Holland Park, west London, but they also have a 350 acre estate in Oxfordshire, Broughton Grange.[15] One of Hester's passions is said to be the garden of Broughton Grange and development of its arboretum, which was designed by landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith and includes pleached limes, formal beds and five of the first batch of Australian Wollemi pines ever to be brought into the UK.[4] Hester is a trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[16]
Hester enjoys tennis, running, shooting and skiing, which for the latter he owns a chalet in Verbier, Switzerland. Hester also enjoys horse riding, as his wife is a master of fox hounds in Warwickshire: "it’s very important to keep our marriage together that I do the same as she does."[4]
References [edit]
- ^ Treanor, Jill (2008-11-05). "RBS chief's £1.2m salary deal revealed". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rbs-boss-and-wife-split-after-226385
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092914/Stephen-Hester-The-8m-home-RBS-chief-gave-ex-wife-She-keeps-mansion--Hester-rents-4m-apartment.html
- ^ a b c d e Davidson, Andrew (2007-01-07). "Towering task for British Land boss". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ "Profile: Stephen Hester". The Guardian. 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ "Stephen Hester appointed to Northern Rock board". Reuters. 2008-02-18. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ "Stephen Hester moves back to banking as new head of RBS". The Telegraph. 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/11/rbs-libor-mathematical-impossibility-john-hourican
- ^ Barrow, Becky (2011-03-18). "100 RBS bankers on more than £1m: Fury over giant payday at bank YOU own". London: dailymail.co.uk.
- ^ Peston, Robert (2012-01-30). "RBS boss Stephen Hester rejects £1m bonus". London: bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ Treanor, Jill (2012-06-29). "RBS chief Stephen Hester gives up bonus over computer meltdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ "RBS board could quit over bonuses". BBC News. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
- ^ "Darling raises National Insurance". BBC News. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
- ^ http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/RBS-chief--splits-from.6343631.jp
- ^ Leake, Christopher (2008-10-19). "Hester also has properties in Australia which he regularly visits. New Royal Bank of Scotland boss hired to end culture of excess lives on plush 350-acre country estate". London: dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
- ^ "Profile: Stephen Hester". efinancialnews.com. 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
External links [edit]
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fred Goodwin |
CEO of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group 2008–present |
Incumbent |
