Who Owns Swiss Re?

Swiss Re was founded in Zurich on December 19, 1863, as Schweizerische Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft, created by a consortium of insurers, banks, and merchants to provide reinsurance capacity after catastrophic losses showed the need for risk-sharing between insurers.

The company paid claims on two defining early disasters: the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. Paying catastrophic claims became its founding credibility, establishing Swiss Re as a reliable counterparty across global insurance markets.

The twentieth century brought global expansion and the 1923 acquisition of Bayerische Ruck, plus long-term growth in the United States through acquisitions including North American Re. The 1996 purchase of Mercantile & General and the 2006 acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions made it one of the two global reinsurance giants alongside Munich Re.

The 2008 financial crisis tested the model. Swiss Re took heavy investment losses and accepted a 3 billion Swiss franc convertible investment from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in early 2009 to shore up capital, a lifeline it repaid in 2011.

Recent history centers on restructuring. The Corporate Solutions primary insurance unit was refocused, and in 2025 the company moved to exit iptiQ, the digital insurance-as-a-service business it launched in 2016 that never reached sustainable profitability, selling parts and placing the rest in run-off.

Fiscal 2025 was the best year in company history: net income of $4.8 billion on $43.1 billion of insurance revenue, a 19.6 percent return on equity, and a proposed dividend of $8 per share plus a $1.5 billion share repurchase program for 2026.