After a real estate affair, which resulted in a loss of 50 million Deutschmark for Deutsche Bank, he called the amount "peanuts". His quotation was chosen "Doublespeak of the Year" in 1994.
His second wife Brigitte is the widow of the late German Chancellor Willy Brandt.
CEO of Deutsche Bank from 1989 to 1997, Chairman of its Supervisory Board from 1997 to 2002.