The Swiss turn on the super-rich

Minder is the epitome of the Swiss entrepreneurs whose small businesses are the backbone of the country's economy. They chide big banks and other homegrown multinationals - like Roche, Novartis, Nestle and ABB - for adopting an American-style get-rich-quick corporate culture. That, in their view, contrasts with a Swiss business ethos that favors sustainability and long-term relationships, one that has helped build a reputation for high-quality products like watches and other precision instruments. Minder took over the family business, Trybol, from his father in 1999; his grandfather bought the company in 1913. Founded by a dentist in 1900 in the northern town of Schaffhausen, Trybol produced one of the first toothpastes in Switzerland and is also known for its herbal mouthwash and natural cosmetics.

Minder blames bankers like Ospel, a Swiss national who spent several years in investment banking in London and New York, for infecting Swiss business with a high-pay culture. "He was working for Merrill Lynch in New York - Wall Street - and there is where the music was playing. (Big bonuses) came over, and now (they're) not only in the financial industry: (They're) also in productive industry, pharma, Nestle and others. There's a lot of bullshit coming from America. There's no sustainable feeling of how managers lead a company. It shouldn't be for the money, it shouldn't be personal gain - it should be for the customer."

In 2001, just two years after Minder took over at Trybol, it was threatened with ruin when Swissair reneged on a $530,000 contract. In a blow to national pride, the debt-ridden airline had to ground its fleet for two days in October 2001. That same year, Swissair paid Mario Corti $13.4 million, even though he had failed to keep the company aloft. "It was nearly the grounding of Switzerland, not only of Swissair," says Minder, who saved his company by begging the new head of the airline, which was taken over by Lufthansa, to honor the contract. But his rage over Conti still burns. "That guy is now in America. He has not given back any money. He was working for one year. I would say it is even criminal."

Minder spent several years venting his outrage to newspapers before deciding to go to war. He spent two years raising funds to force a referendum on executive compensation and  the influential business federation Economiesuisse, whichrepresents 100,000 companies, says Minder's proposals couldundermine Switzerland's position as the world's most competitiveeconomy, a title awarded to it this year for the fourth yearrunning by the World Economic Forum because of its low taxes,stable politics and business-friendly laws. Swiss companiesaccounted for five of the top 10 best-paid chairmen in Europe in2011, but only the heads of Novartis and Roche made it into thecontinent's top 10 for chief executives.

While Minder expects Economiesuisse to spend up to $16million to defeat his referendum, a poll conducted in May showedthat 77 percent of Swiss voters back his proposals. Even theSwiss monthly business magazine Bilanz has criticized high payfor CEOs and chairmen. "Too powerful, too expensive," it scoldedin a recent cover story, noting that the board presidents ofNovartis and Roche earn more than 10 times the compensation oftheir counterparts at British pharma companies.

Few top executives have dared speak out on this land-mineissue. Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck, an Austrian who hasaccumulated a fortune of up to $215 million, is one of the few."If the Minder initiative were to be adopted, Switzerland wouldunnecessarily give up one of the world's best company laws," hewrote in an opinion piece in the Neue Z黵cher Zeitung daily. "Nowell-advised company would chose to set up headquarters in acountry where an infringement of corporate government rules canlead to imprisonment."

Many believe support for Minder's initiative is driven by anational allergy to high achievers. The Swiss seem to feel theneed to cut their stars down to size, such as former Swisscentral bank chief Philipp Hildebrand, who was long vilified astoo proud even before a currency-trading scandal forced him toresign in January 2011. One exception to that aversion is tennisplayer Roger Federer, who has managed to stay popular, in partby retaining a down-to-earth image despite his wealth andsuccess with a racket.

Experts attribute the Swiss aversion to star culture to along history of consensus building between the German-speakingmajority and French- and Italian-speaking minorities, andbetween Protestants and Catholics. Apart from folk hero WilliamTell, Swiss history is thin on great figures, perhaps because,having stayed out of the continent's major wars, the country hasnot needed strong leaders. "Switzerland has no kings, noemperors, no preeminent president, no one person upon whomeverything is focused," says Karin Frick, an economist at theGottlieb Duttweiler Institute, an independent research body."Egalitarian thinking and behavior is in the DNA of Switzerland,which means that people who are richer or more successful thanothers tend not to show it. The name of the game isunderstatement."

Communicaid, a London-based business consultancyspecializing in cross-cultural awareness, cautions executivesvisiting Switzerland that its business leaders tend to be modestabout their role and discreet in their exercise of authority."People expect others to be on an equal level, and from someonein leadership or senior management they expect a certain amountof modesty and frugality in the way they approach money ormaterial goods," says Cora Malinak, an intercultural specialistfrom Communicaid.

In his campaign, Minder, the vice president of his localsoccer club and a keen birdwatcher and Alpine sports enthusiast,has repeatedly jabbed at the growing number of foreign CEOs,tapping into simmering resentment of outsiders in thistight-knit nation of just eight 8 million. The highest-paidchief executives in Switzerland in 2011 were all foreigners:Americans Joe Jiminez and Joe Hogan at Novartis and ABB, Roche'sSeverin Schwan from Austria, and Nestle's Paul Bulcke fromBelgium. Minder regularly pillories Credit Suisse's AmericanCEO, Brady Dougan, who has drawn fire for the $75 million stockwindfall he received in 2009. "The moment you have the guys likeBrady Dougan and all the foreigners, if it's not working,they're on the next plane back to New York," Minder says. "Swissguys in my position, usually they're accepted in the village.They don't only have their work, but they have something besidestheir work - they cannot manage a company the same way as BradyDougan." (The ill will is compounded by the fact that Douganstill can't speak German, even after five years leadingSwitzerland's second-biggest bank.)