The former leader of
Zurich Insurance, James Schiro, has died at the age of 68.
Schiro, who headed the global insurer between 2002 and 2009, was most recently a lead director at Goldman Sachs Group, a position he left in July to undergo treatment for multiple myeloma—a type of blood cancer.
Goldman announced the news Friday, expressing sympathy for Schiro’s friends and family.
“We are greatly saddened by the passing on Aug. 13 of our former lead director, James Schiro. Our thoughts are with his wife and children,” the bank said via Twitter.
Schiro was the first non-Swiss citizen to lead Zurich, and was popularly credited with returning the insurer to profitability after a difficult financial stretch. In 2007, he was named insurance leader of the year by the School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science at St. John’s University in New York.
Previously, Schiro led the merger of Pricewaterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand to form PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in 1998, where he served as chief executive.
