Swisscom chief Carsten Schloter found dead in Freiburg

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2375212/Swisscom-bo ss-Carsten-Schloter-dead-suspected-suicide.html

Swisscom boss Carsten Schloter discovered dead in suspected suicide

By ROB DAVIES

PUBLISHED: 01:02, 24 July 2013 | UPDATED: 01:02, 24 July 2013

Carsten Schloter, the chief executive of telecoms giant Swisscom, has been found dead in what police are treating as a suicide. The state-controlled firm, which dominates the Swiss market, said it was ‘in mourning’, after Schloter, 49, was found dead by police in his home near the city of Freiburg. Police are assuming the cause of death was suicide, although the company said that ‘an investigation into the exact circumstances is underway’.

No further details have been disclosed out of respect for the family. Swisscom chairman Hansueli Loosli said: ‘The board of directors, group executive board and the entire workforce are deeply saddened and pass on their condolences to the family and relatives.’ Deputy chief executive Urs Schaeppi will take over as acting chief executive, the company added. The news has rocked the Swiss business community, where Schloter was known for his modern and innovative approach to business, as well as his love of outdoor sports. He insisted that staff use the more personal ‘Du’ form of address when speaking to one another, as opposed to the formal ‘Sie’ form common in the business world. Schloter was also known as a workaholic who admitted in interviews that he found it impossible to turn off his mobile phone and sometimes struggled to reduce the tempo of his busy life. The German-born boss separated from his wife in 2009 and lived apart from his three children. He later told Swiss newspaper Blick that he had tried to ‘play the strong man’ over the separation but that this was ‘not credible’. Swisscom’s performance under Schloter was considered strong despite small declines in revenue. But the company, which has 62 per cent of Switzerland’s mobile market and 55pc of broadband, had recently come under pressure from competition watchdogs. Weko, the Swiss equivalent of the UK’s Competition Commission, last week opened an investigation after rival Sunrise complained that Swisscom was abusing its dominant position in broadband internet for corporate clients. Schloter’s death is the third suicide by an executive at a leading Swiss firm in the space of five years. In 2008 the chief executive of private bank Julius Baer Alex Widmer took his own life, followed in 2011 by Adrian Kohler, the boss of Ricola, who threw himself in front of a train.