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Colm Kelleher

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Colm Kelleher
Born
Thomas Columba Kelleher

(1957-05-30) 30 May 1957 (age 67)
Bandon, County Cork, Ireland
Nationality
  • Irish
  • British
EducationOriel College, Oxford (MA)
OccupationBusiness executive
Known for
Children3

Thomas Columba "Colm" Kelleher (born 30 May 1957) is an Irish-British business executive and banker. He is the chairman of the board of directors of the Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company, UBS Group, since 2022. Before joining UBS, Kelleher held various positions spanning three decades at its American counterpart, Morgan Stanley, from 1989 to 2019.

Early life and education

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Thomas Columba Kelleher[1] was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland,[2] on 30 May 1957,[3] to a doctor father and a homemaker mother.[4] He was one of nine children raised in a deeply religious Catholic family.[3] When he was a teen, their family relocated to Warrington in northern England; he did his schooling in Liverpool at a Catholic school.[5][6] Kelleher and his brothers served as altar boys.[4]

He graduated from Oxford University's Oriel College with a Master of Arts in modern history.[7][8]

Career

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After graduation, Kelleher moved into banking joining the London-based bank Robert Fleming & Co.[8] He then spent four years at the auditing firm Arthur Andersen in London.[1] During his tenure there, he qualified as a chartered accountant.[9] In 1985, he joined NatWest's subsidiary County Bank of London, where he met his future wife.[5]

Morgan Stanley (1989–2019)

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In 1989, Bob Diamond recruited Kelleher to join Morgan Stanley's debt markets division in London,[1][4] where he focused on fixed income sales.[10] He was the chief financial officer and co-head of strategy from 2007 to 2009, during the global financial crisis.[10] He is credited for significantly reducing Morgan Stanley's balance sheet, increasing its cash position,[11] and transforming it to a conventional bank holding company so it could access funding from the US Federal Reserve. He played a key role in negotiating a $9 billion financial injection from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.[12][13]

In early 2009, Kelleher led Morgan Stanley's acquisition of Citigroup's Smith Barney brokerage unit.[14] While the merger faced challenges initially and spanned several years to fully integrate, it ultimately proved successful and contributed to Morgan Stanley becoming a major player in wealth management.[14] In December 2009, he was appointed as co-president of the Institutional Securities Group, along with Paul J. Taubman.[15] He was tasked with fixing Morgan Stanley's investment bank. This helped their wealth management business, which was already doing well, grow further. He had to deal with getting rid of risky investments that were hard to sell and caused some losses.[14] A protracted power struggle with Taubman resulted in his quitting in 2012, leaving Kelleher as the sole head.[15][16] In 2015, Kelleher led a significant overhaul of Morgan Stanley's fixed income division.[17] He ultimately became president of the entire firm in 2016, overseeing both Institutional Securities and Wealth Management.[18][19] Greg Fleming, the head of wealth management at the time and seen as the CEO heir apparent to James P. Gorman, departed the firm upon Kelleher's promotion.[16] Kelleher retired from his position in 2019, but remained as a special adviser,[17] retaining an office, a personal assistant, and a Bloomberg Terminal.[20]

After his retirement, one of Deutsche Bank's majority owners, Cerberus Capital Management, tried to bring in Kelleher as the bank's supervisory chairman, but did not have the support of the board. He was also approached for a similar position at Credit Suisse, but Kelleher did not consider it.[4]

UBS (2022–present)

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Kelleher joined the board of UBS as chairman in April 2022, succeeding Axel A. Weber. When the 2023 US regional banking crisis spread to Credit Suisse, he led negotiations on behalf of UBS to consummate the acquisition. Kelleher brought in the former CEO Sergio Ermotti replacing Ralph Hamers to lead the integration and restructuring efforts.[12][14]

Other activities

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Kelleher joined the board of Norfolk Southern in 2019.[20] He is also a board member of Bretton Woods Committee, Bank Policy Institute, and on the advisory council of the British Museum.[9]

He is a freeman of the City of London.[9] He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Kelleher is a visiting professor of banking and finance at Loughborough's business school.[21]

Personal life

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Kelleher is married and has two sons and a daughter.[4] After retiring from Morgan Stanley, he completed the near 500-mile religious pilgrimage Camino de Santiago raising over US$330,000 for Student Sponsor Partners.[4][20] He lives in Zürich[4] and owns houses in London and Tuscany.[2]

His brother Declan Kelleher is a former Irish ambassador to the European Union and to China.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Elices, Maria Matos (9 January 2016). "El irlandés imbatible" [The unbeatable Irishman]. Cinco Días (in Spanish). ISSN 1699-3594. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b Carey, Brian; Daly, Linda (17 March 2024). "Doyens of the Irish diaspora in the world of business". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b Meuli, Nora (26 March 2023). "Colm Kelleher – mächtigster Banker der Schweiz" [Colm Kelleher – most powerful banker in Switzerland] (in Swiss High German). Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Noonan, Laura; Walker, Owen (30 August 2023). "Colm Kelleher was always meant to become Europe's most powerful banker". FT Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b Schütz, Dirk (23 March 2022). "Qui est Colm Kelleher, le nouveau président d'UBS?" [Who is Colm Kelleher, the new chairman of UBS?]. Bilanz (in French). Archived from the original on 4 October 2023 – via PME.
  6. ^ Walsh, John (12 November 2012). "Irish man tipped to lead top US bank". Irish Examiner. ISSN 1393-9564. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024.
  7. ^ Quinn, Eamon (20 November 2021). "Banking giant UBS names Cork native Colm Kelleher as chairman". Irish Examiner. ISSN 1393-9564. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b Biswas, Chanchal; Mordrelle, Eflamm (24 March 2023). "Colm Kelleher führt jetzt die grösste und mächtigste Bank des Landes: Wer ist der Mann an der Spitze der neuen UBS?" [Colm Kelleher now leads the country's largest and most powerful bank: Who is the man at the helm of the new UBS?]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). ISSN 0376-6829. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023.
  9. ^ a b c Gleeson, Colin (20 March 2023). "Colm Kelleher: the Corkman leading €3bn takeover of Credit Suisse". The Irish Times. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023.
  10. ^ a b Moyer, Liz (6 January 2016). "Morgan Stanley's New No. 2". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022.
  11. ^ Walker, Owen (31 March 2023). "Colm Kelleher: Irish financial crisis veteran orchestrating Credit Suisse takeover". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023.
  12. ^ a b Oran, Olivia (4 February 2016). "Profile-Morgan Stanley's new president cements role as enforcer-in-chief". Reuters. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021.
  13. ^ Hoffman, Liz (4 January 2019). "The Muscle Morgan Stanley Flexed in the $74 Billion Bristol-Myers Deal". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 1042-9840. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d Foerster, Jan-Henrik; Kirchfeld, Aaron; Griffiths, Katherine (4 April 2023). "UBS Chairman's Top-Secret Prep Paid Off in Credit Suisse Moment". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023.
  15. ^ a b Moore, Michael J; Abelson, Max (22 September 2011). "The Feud at the Top of Morgan Stanley". Bloomberg Businessweek. ISSN 0007-7135. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023.
  16. ^ a b Oran, Olivia; Freed, Dan (6 January 2016). "Morgan Stanley names Kelleher president; Fleming departs". Reuters. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024.
  17. ^ a b Noonan, Laura (28 March 2019). "Morgan Stanley's number two executive steps down". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019.
  18. ^ a b Donnelly, Ellie (20 March 2023). "Colm Kelleher: The Irish-born executive fronting the takeover of Credit Suisse". Business Post. ISSN 0791-2617. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023.
  19. ^ Willits, Will (7 January 2016). "Morgan Stanley's Greg Fleming leaves, Colm Kelleher appointed president". Australian Financial Review. ISSN 1444-9900. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024.
  20. ^ a b c Noonan, Laura (11 July 2020). "Colm Kelleher wanted to leave Morgan Stanley before the recession hit". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020.
  21. ^ Burns, John (10 November 2023). "TikTok told to be '100% certain' before requesting meeting with Coveney after it postpones two". The Irish Times. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023.
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