Christian Sewing was born in Bünde, Germany, in 1970 and joined Deutsche Bank as an apprentice at age 19, eventually rising through risk management and the private and commercial bank to be named chief executive in 2018, at a moment when the institution was widely seen as the most fragile of Europe's systemic banks.
His tenure has been defined by a deep restructuring: the exit from equities trading, the creation of a separate capital-release unit, a reaffirmation of corporate banking as the bank's strategic core and a multi-year cost-and-controls program that has restored the bank to sustained profitability and dividend payments.
Sewing is also a leading voice in the European Banking Federation and a frequent commentator on the need for the European Union to deepen its capital markets to support the continent's industrial competitiveness.