Drug Giant Roche Fires Its CFO After 4 Months

Roche Holding, Europe’s fifth-biggest drug maker, fired Chief Financial Officer Anton Affentranger after just four months on the job. Chief Executive Franz Humer blamed a personality clash.

The departure of Affentranger, 44, comes just one day after cross-town rival Novartis stunned investors by announcing it had acquired 20% of Roche’s voting shares from Swiss investor Martin Ebner.

Investors had expected Affentranger to shake up family-controlled Roche and move the 105-year-old Swiss company to a single share structure, which would make a merger easier. The former banker had earned a reputation for spurring reorganization and expansion.

Humer said Affentranger’s departure was not related to the Novartis purchase.

Affentranger could not be reached for comment. Novartis officials were not available, and a spokesman for Ebner’s BZ Group, which sold the Roche stake, declined to comment.

The CFO had to work within a controlled environment. The descendants of Fritz Hoffmann, who started the company in 1896, still have the majority of Roche’s voting rights. And analysts and investors said Humer keeps a tight rein on the Basel-based company.

Affentranger took over this year from Henri Meier, a 15-year veteran known for profitable investments. Financial income under Meier accounted for as much as a third of the drug maker’s earnings.

Humer said Roche is not considering asking Meier to return.