Stephen Hester Profile: CEO Behind Transformation of RBS

The Royal Bank of Scotland is holding its Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh today but, as IBTimes UK has reported, the bank still has a whole host of issues to solve.

Leading up to the event, we take a look at the RBS chief executive who is responsible for turning around the 83% taxpayer-owned bank.

Name:

Stephen Hester

Born:

14 December 1960

Nationality:

British

Family History:

Hester separated from his financier wife Barbara Abt in 2010.

They have two children together.

Interests:

His interests include golf, classic cars, skiing, tennis and croquet.

However, his love for shooting and hunting on his 350-acre estate near Banbury, is probably his most publicised passtime with acres of column inches in the tabloids.

His estranged wife is also a lover of hunting as she is a master of foxhounds in Warwickshire.

Education:

He was initially educated at rural comprehensive Easingwold School in North Yorkshire and later went on to Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University.

He graduated with a first class honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Current Position:

Hester was appointed as RBS chief executive on 21 November 2008 in the aftermath of the UK government bailing out the bank.

He is still tasked with turning the bank around by restructuring it, as well as, shedding as much bad assets as possible, in a bid to return to privatisation.

While he helped usher RBS back into profit for the first time since 2011, he still faces sorting out a number of issues that started before, and during, his time as CEO.

He can currently earn up to £6m in bonus packages, on top of his £1.1m salary, which he has described as "modest."

Despite the long list of scandals, including mis-selling derivatives, payment protection insurance and Libor fixing, he still received a £700,000 deferred bonus from 2010, in March 2013.

Career Path:

Hester has spent a majority of his career in banking, after joining the investment bank Credit Suisse, straight from Oxford University, later becoming the youngest-ever managing director at 35.

In 2001, Hester left Credit Suisse to join struggling Abbey National and was heralded as the group's saviour after restructuring its debt.

After Spain's Santander snapped up Abbey National for £9.5bn in 2004, Hester moved into his first and only non-banking role at a FTSE 100 property company, British Land.

During his four-year stint at British Land, Hester added another feather to his cap as the man who could turn companies around, after introducing greater transparency to the company's dealings and cutting down on excessive spending.