Lenny Fischer, the Wunderkind of German banking, became the latest investment banking chief to fall last week, sacrificed on the altar of old-style German consensus management.
When he was appointed to the Dresdner Bank management board four years ago, Fischer became the youngest board member of a leading German company in the post-war era. At 35, he was hailed as one of young hotshots shaking up corporate Europe â the internationally-minded banker called on to sort out Dresdner's investment banking business. But ultimately his style proved all too much for the conservative, in-bred Dresdner culture. Fischer managed the rare achievement for a Dresdner manager of winning the trust of the Anglo-Saxon investment bankers within the group but alienating the old-style corporate bankers in Germany.
