# Kaspar Villiger

Kaspar Villiger (/fiːlɪɡɛr/FEELIGER; born 5 February 1941) is a Swiss businessman, former tobacco manufacturer and politician. He served as a member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) since 1 February 1989 for The Liberals. Villiger served two terms as President of the Swiss Confederation in 1995 and again in 2002. He previously served on the Council of States (Switzerland) from 1987 to 1989 and on the National Council (Switzerland) from 1982 to 1987.
Villiger was best known for his involvement into the Swissair bankruptcy in 2001, when he was among the members of the rescue plan task force, which ultimately failed. Between 2009 and 2012, Villiger was appointed chairman of UBS. He has also served on the board of directors at Nestlé, Swiss Re and Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He currently is the chairman of the UBS Foundation of Economics in Society, which invested 100 million Swiss Francs in the Department of Economics at the University of Zürich. He was a founding member of the Global Leadership Foundation in 2004.

## Early life and education

Villiger was born 5 February 1941 in Pfeffikon, Switzerland to Max and Dory (née Heiz) Villiger. He was the grandson of Jean Villiger (1860–1902), who founded the tobacco manufacturing concern Villiger Sons in 1888. He has one elder brother, Heinrich (born 1930), and sister Monika (born 1936).
He was raised in Pfeffikon and completed his Matura in Aarau. He then studied Mechanical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich graduating in 1965.

## Career

In 1966, he entered the family business, after the sudden death of his father Max Villiger (1897–1966) alongside his elder brother Heinrich Villiger, who was responsible for the German market and his sister Monika Villiger, who was export director. He integrated bicycle manufacturer Kalt in Buttisholz and developed it under the new Villiger name. Villiger was also the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of Central Switzerland, several years a member on the board committee of the Association of Employers in Central Switzerland and vice president of the Argovian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
In 2004, he became member of the board of directors of Nestlé and Swiss Re. On 15 April 2009, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Swiss banking giant UBS, holding this post until 3 May 2012. His successor was Axel A. Weber.

## Politics

On 1 February 1989, he was elected to the Swiss Federal Council. He is affiliated to the Free Democratic Party (Liberals).
During his time in office he headed the following departments:
* Federal Military Department (1989 – 1995)
* Federal Department of Finance (1996 – 2003)
He was President of the Confederation twice, in 1995 and again in 2002.
In 1995 Kaspar Villiger apologized on occasion of an official visit by Dan Culler who was an internee in the Wauwilermoos internment camp during World War II. Dwight Mears, a U.S. Army officer, covered the apology in his 2012 PhD thesis on the American internees in Switzerland.
In September 2003, he announced he was to resign on 31 December 2003.

## Other activities

Kaspar Villiger is a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today's national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organization composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organization officials who work closely with Heads of Government on governance-related issues of concern to them.