The Swiss family which controls drugmaker Roche is in the spotlight after it bought back shares from hometown peer Novartis.
The family which controls Basel-based drugmaker Roche saw their wealth grow to $38 billion during the pandemic, according to a broadcast by Swiss outlet «SRF» (in German). The broadcast coincides with Roche's buyback of roughly one-third of itself from hometown rival Novartis on Thursday.
The rare deal offers a glimpse into one of Switzerland's wealthiest and most secretive families. André Hoffmann, who represents the Hoffmann and Oeri families' pooled shareholding, told «SRF» that he views the stock's value in the influence they convey, not in their financial value.
Tax Obligations
Another member voiced the same sentiment, saying his branch of the family needed Roche's regularly-hiked dividend to pay capital gains taxes. «Certainly, we rely on the dividend payments to pay taxes on exactly these stockholdings,» Joerg Duschmalé told the broadcaster.
Roche boss Severin Schwan is one of Europe's top-paid executives, with roughly 15 million Swiss francs in annual pay. Schwan, who is impeccably connected in wider Swiss business, is also the deputy chairman of Credit Suisse, where António Horta-Osório took over recently.
Family Debates
Hoffmann, a 63-year-old Swiss, said the family doesn't always agree «spontaneously» about how to exercise its shares. He previously spoke about being disillusioned with charitable activity, to which different branches of the family have devoted parts of their fortune.
And just like most families, Roche's Hoffmann and Oeri clans maintain a WhatsApp group chat to communicate. Asked by «SRF» is this is an effective method, Hoffmann laughed while conceding, «uh...sometimes.»
