Tidjane Thiame is French-Ivorian and the former CEO of Credit Suisse. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Prudential, one of Britain’s leading insurance companies.

He was born in the Ivory Coast and became the first Ivorian to pass the entrance exam to the École Polytechnique in Paris. Thiame then studied for an MBA at INSEAD before beginning his carrier as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. In 2011, Thiame was awarded the Legion d’Honneure, France’s top honorary award, by President Nicholas Sarkozy.