Barclays Gets a Quiet Leader for a Change

As Chief Executive Officer of Barclays, Bob Diamond became a symbol of excess in the banking industry. His compensation totaled about £120 million ($190 million) from the time he joined the board in 2005. He was known for his outspoken style and counted Mick Jagger and golfer Phil Mickelson among his friends. Barclays’ new CEO, Antony Jenkins, is a low-key, collegial consumer banker who runs marathons and outlasted rivals to win the top job. “In Jenkins you’ve got the archetypal English CEO who is seen as rather safe, compared with the typically aggressive U.S. investment banker that was Bob Diamond,” says Alan Beaney, investment director at R.C. Brown Investment Management in Bristol, England. “His appointment signals that the bank is not going to be as brazen as it has been in the past.”

Jenkins, 51, is taking over at Barclays, the U.K.’s second-largest bank, after it paid a record £290 million for interest-rate manipulation, which led to the resignation of Diamond, Chairman Marcus Agius, and Chief Operating Officer Jerry Del Missier in July. Jenkins must rebuild trust with regulators while convincing investors that he can maintain profitability in the glare of more intrusive regulation and political oversight. “I’m a transformational leader,” he says, belying his reputation for modesty. “And I have every confidence that my business acumen, general experience in banking, and the skills and talents of the team we have in the investment bank will enable me to continue to take Barclays” in the right direction.