Finance

HSBC’s New Mandarin-Speaking CEO Reveals British Lender’s Deepening Asia Pivot

  • Unlike predecessors, Elhedery has worked at other banks before
  • One focus area for HSBC’s new boss is Asian wealth management
HSBC Chooses Elhedery as New CEO to Replace QuinnSource: Bloomberg
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HSBC Holdings Plc staff entering Georges Elhedery’s office in Dubai used to joke that it felt like walking into a freezing meat locker. The executive told a colleague that the abnormally cold room made him more productive.

Years later, when Elhedery returned from a sabbatical, he gave up an apartment in a smart West London district, and instead opted for a flat close to the bank’s headquarters in the staid Canary Wharf neighborhood, reasoning it would allow him to spend more time at work.