António Simões is one the UK’s most high profile bankers as the chief executive of HSBC but commented in an interview with Paulo Anunciaça printed in today's Sunday Times that, "If it were not gay, I probably would not be CEO of the bank"
Far from hiding his sexuality in the rough and ready city environment, Simões said that being gay is an advantage for him and that if he wasn’t gay he probably wouldn’t be CEO of the bank.
Simões leads the Out at Work list of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender executives published last week but still gets asked what his wife does for a living.
Simões was born in Portugal and joined HSBC in 2007 after working for McKinsey and Goldman Sachs and is married to a Spaniard.
“.. .it is much stranger – and statistically more improbable – that a 39-year-old Portuguese is CEO of HSBC UK than the fact that the CEO of the bank is gay.”
Comments
Sr Simoes said that 'empathy' in the often butch often aggressive world of banking is a rare commodity and it is this aspect of his personality that has enabled his rise to the top at HSBC.
Many hetrosexual bankers may also be empathetic of course, but none of them are in charge of this huge bank. His conclusion about empathy may be right, but not only homosexuals have this character trait.
In is instance as he was being interviewed about being voted top of the Out at Work list. The comments he made about the positive aspects of being gay were worthy of comment and reporting as probably a first.
Ed