Ralph Norris

Ralph Norris knows what it's like to be the most hated person in Australia. Just ask any tabloid newspaper editor; he's greedy, overpaid, an enemy of the Aussie battler. But he also knows what it's like to wield serious clout.

The head of the country's biggest bank is without doubt one of the heavy hitters of finance. When he does something, the entire country knows about it.

Like the time he played national party pooper and spoilt last year's Melbourne Cup, after the Commonwealth Bank raised interest rates on the first Tuesday in November by almost double the Reserve Bank increase. Much newspaper ink was used attacking Norris for that supposed misstep, shouting him down for daring to inflict rate pain on the race that stops the nation.

And the politicians lined up to have a crack as well: "Instead of giving us the four-pillar policy, the banks have given us the middle-finger approach," Senator Nick Xenophon told reporters at the time. "Everyone had to tighten their belts during the global financial crisis, but it seems the banks have just taken the money and run."

But Norris stood firm, saying the rate rise was necessary and even demanded a correction when The Daily Telegraph ran a damaging and supposedly misleading front-page story which reported him saying he thought it "was better to see a few foreclosures than have an economy hamstrung by a low-profit banking system". Not satisfied with the correction, Norris took out full-page ads giving his side of the story.

It's clear the man knows how to protect himself. A skill he put on show again when he was forced to defend his enormous $16.2 million pay packet in 2010, the highest of any CEO in the country.

Norris says the whole rate-rise affair took its personal toll on him. He admitted this year that his house had been vandalised and that angry customers had intimidated his wife. And maybe that has led to his future departure from The Power Index. Because by all rights Sir Ralph should probably not be in our top 10. In fact, in a few months he won't be.

But until November, when he steps down as CEO, the head of Australia's biggest bank is still here. And that means he's still in charge of more than $330 billion worth of mortgages, if only until CEO-in-waiting Ian Narev takes over.

Right now, Norris' bank juggles some $646 billion in assets, controls 26% of the home-loan market and not long ago absorbed BankWest into the fold. Whichever way you look at it, CBA is a juggernaut of finance. And Norris has been at the helm of the black-and-gold behemoth for six years.

Big, balding and slightly buck-toothed, Ralph Norris gives off the vibe of a geeky uncle. A father-of-three, he's friendly and personable; and takes his nickname from movie star Chuck Norris. He's also a diagnosed diabetic. But just like his action hero namesake, Ralph Norris knows how to be ruthless, even if it loses him popularity points.

Norris has performed his job well in steering CBA through the GFC. The bank's share price has made decent gains under his stewardship, and many watchers believe the bank is stronger for his presence — especially after the takeover of BankWest.

"Walk into a CBA branch and you'll get a sense of how far the bank and its staff have come during the Norris era," says Stephen Bartholomeusz from Business Spectator, who praises Norris for improving the bank's level of customer service.

It wasn't immediately apparent that Norris was destined for big things in banking. 

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he was raised by his single mother in a commission house in Mount Roskill. And unlike many of his finance rivals, he didn't go to university after finishing high school at Lynfield College. But after beginning his working life as a commercial cadet at Mobil Oil New Zealand, he quickly moved into finance at Auckland Savings Bank in 1969. He rose steadily to become CEO in 1991.

It was at ASB where Norris developed his love of computers (he's a patron of the New Zealand Computer Society), a passion he would morph into a successful business strategy based around technology at Air New Zealand — which he joined after leaving ASB in 2001. 

Norris' success in his home country has made him a bit of a lightning rod for controversy in the past. In 2004, he and his wife Pam signed a letter opposing a bill to give legal recognition to same-sex couples. Amongst other things, the letter claimed international research showed children who came from non-traditional marriage families were more likely to be subjected to abuse.

But after turning around the national airline, which had felt the financial shocks of the sudden collapse of Ansett, Norris eventually found his way to CBA in 2005. Since then he has led the bank up the customer-service charts, thanks in part to his technology-focused strategy.

And he's increased market share; the bank acquired BankWest during the GFC for $2.1 billion. CBA now sits as the largest home lender, with 53% of its balance sheet in the all-important mortgage market.

But it's what happens next at the country's biggest bank that will be of most interest to power spotters. Will the new chief of CBA wield the big stick like Norris?

"The choice of Ian Narev (from a cohort of internal candidates) as his successor is revealing," says Bartholomeusz, who reckons it signals the board believes the domestic bank is in good shape.

All eyes will be on Narev, CBA's current head of business banking, who is set to rule the roost from December this year. And already the 44-year-old fellow New Zealander knows he has a hard act to follow.

"There will be some different style and focus to Ralph — but there will be a strong continuity with the strategy," Narev told reporters upon being announced the new CEO.

Narev doesn't have the long history in banking of his mentor (he used to be a management consultant like Cameron Clyne). But the consensus seems to be that CBA will be in safe hands. Narev has impressed the powers-that-be with his work on the takeover of BankWest and in CBA's business lending department.

As for the longest-serving CEO of the Big Four banks, he just says he's looking forward to cashing in his super. Oh and retiring from The Power Index.

"Obviously this day does have a bittersweet flavour," Norris told reporters last month. "But I'm looking forward to a less onerous role as a retiree."