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Prudential's Tidjane Thiam: military coup arrest to FSA censure Prudential's Tidjane Thiam: military coup arrest to FSA censure
(6 months later)
Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam has probably had worse moments than Wednesday's dressing down from the Financial Services Authority.Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam has probably had worse moments than Wednesday's dressing down from the Financial Services Authority.
In 1999, while serving as cabinet minister in Ivory Coast, his birth country, Thiam was put under house arrest when the government was overthrown in a military coup. "I had no job, no career, nothing at all … If you've been in a situation where you have nothing there's nothing much you're afraid of," he told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs last year.In 1999, while serving as cabinet minister in Ivory Coast, his birth country, Thiam was put under house arrest when the government was overthrown in a military coup. "I had no job, no career, nothing at all … If you've been in a situation where you have nothing there's nothing much you're afraid of," he told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs last year.
Thiam, 50, who once described himself in a Guardian interview as "black, African, Francophone and 6ft 4in", was mostly educated in France and graduated top of the class from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, an exclusive school for France's political and business elites. After stints at McKinsey and the World Bank, the French-Ivorian citizen took a sidestep, when, aged 31, he accepted a job running Ivory Coast's national bureau for technical studies and development, eventually being asked to join the government in 1998.Thiam, 50, who once described himself in a Guardian interview as "black, African, Francophone and 6ft 4in", was mostly educated in France and graduated top of the class from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, an exclusive school for France's political and business elites. After stints at McKinsey and the World Bank, the French-Ivorian citizen took a sidestep, when, aged 31, he accepted a job running Ivory Coast's national bureau for technical studies and development, eventually being asked to join the government in 1998.
After the coup, Thiam returned to Paris to resume his business career. Feted by policymakers, Thiam has been named the most influential black Briton for two years running, served on former prime minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa and picked up a Légion d'honneur, the equivalent of a knighthood, from the French government.After the coup, Thiam returned to Paris to resume his business career. Feted by policymakers, Thiam has been named the most influential black Briton for two years running, served on former prime minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa and picked up a Légion d'honneur, the equivalent of a knighthood, from the French government.
Although well-regarded in the City, it has not been all plain sailing at the Pru. Investors were infuriated by the Pru's botched takeover attempt of Asian rival AIA in 2010, and forced Thiam into the humiliating climbdown of giving up a seat on the board of French bank Société Générale to concentrate on his day job.Although well-regarded in the City, it has not been all plain sailing at the Pru. Investors were infuriated by the Pru's botched takeover attempt of Asian rival AIA in 2010, and forced Thiam into the humiliating climbdown of giving up a seat on the board of French bank Société Générale to concentrate on his day job.
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