Last month the insurer hired Paul Achleitner, formerly head of Goldman Sachs's Frankfurt office, as its finance chief.

ECONOMIST: Dresdner Bank

Instead, Paul Achleitner, Allianz's chief financial officer, an Austrian with a Harvard M.

FORBES: Schulte-Noelle Scores

Alex Dibelius, co-head of Goldman Sachs in Germany, and an adviser to the Messer family, initiated talks with Paul Achleitner, his former Goldman boss, who was now a board member at Allianz.

ECONOMIST: Face value