Dr. Christoph Franz

Nationality
German and Swiss

Year of birth
1960

Education
Graduate in Industrial Engineering (Dipl. Wirtsch.-Ing.),
Doctorate in Economics and Social Sciences (Dr. rer. pol.)

Family status
Married, five children

• Graduate Studies at Ecole Centrale de Lyon and Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lyon (France)

• Graduate in Industrial Engineering (Dipl. Wirtsch.-Ing.) from Darmstadt, Technical University (Germany)

• Doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) from Darmstadt Technical University

• Post doctoral research at University of California, Berkeley (USA)

1990
Deutsche Lufthansa Ltd.

1994
Deutsche Bahn Ltd., executive functions, Member of the Executive Board and CEO of passenger transport division

2004
CEO of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. (SWISS)

2009
Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa Ltd.,
CEO of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines

2011
Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa Ltd.

since 2014
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Roche Holding Ltd.

• Member of the Board of Trustees Ernst Goehner Foundation, Avenir Suisse and Lucerne Festival

• Member of the Advisory Board of University of St. Gallen (HSG)

• Honorary Professor for Business Administration at University of St. Gallen

• Member of the Assembly and the Counsel of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

• Member of the Board of the Swiss Study Foundation

• Vice-Chairman of the Board of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.

• Member of the Board of Stadler Rail Ltd.

• Member of the Board of Directors, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been an opportunity for many of us to rethink our priorities in life. Reiterating that if our family members, friends and colleagues are healthy – it is just priceless. My deepest sympathy goes to those who have lost a loved one.”

“We're in this together. Roche, as one of the few companies at the forefront of the response, has entered into several collaborations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. And we’re working closely with governments, healthcare authorities and the public health communities to ensure the availability of our medicines and diagnostics.”

“The values that my wife and I are passing on to our five children can be summed up with the phrase ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ This includes respect, fairness and a sense of shared responsibility for society.”

“It is a privilege for us that we can still rely on the founding families as loyal majority shareholders who want a healthy company to pass on to the next generation. This commitment allows the long-term mindset that is key for an innovative business such as ours and has become a cornerstone of our culture.”

“I am a firm believer in the concept of role models as a leadership tool. Employees pay close attention to their managers’ behaviour. They have a feel for whether or not the managers practise what they preach.”

“Even the most ground-breaking innovation is useless if it never reaches the patients. Our aim at Roche is for every person who needs our diagnostics and medicines to be able to access them, no matter where they live.”