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Milestones in the Company's History
Credit Suisse can look back on a history stretching over more than 150 years. Over this period, what was once just a Swiss investment bank gradually developed into a globally active and integrated universal bank.
Multimedia
Slide show of the corporate history
Background
It all started with the railroad
On July 5, 1856, the prominent politician, business leader, and pioneer Alfred Escher founded "Schweizerische Kreditanstalt". The original purpose of the new bank was to finance the expansion of the railroad network (e.g. the Nordostbahn/North-East Railway) as well as further industrialization in Switzerland. The founding of the company was a huge success: Initial stock was issued with a value of three million francs, but within just three days the total value of subscriptions amounted to 218 million francs.
This success story continued over the next century and a half, with Credit Suisse gradually evolving into a leading global provider of financial services. On the one hand, this was achieved through strong organic growth, but it was also supplemented by a series of significant mergers and acquisitions. This involved the amalgamation of very different cultures, philosophies, and spheres of specialist knowledge to create a strong integrated bank.
