Vikram Pandit Named New Citigroup CEO
Citigroup has named its investment banking head, Vikram Pandit, as the group's chief executive and acting CEO Win Bischoff as its chairman, disappointing investors who wanted a big-name outsider to overhaul the bank. Citi had been seeking a replacement for former CEO Charles Prince, who left on 4 November under pressure from shareholders frustrated by the performance of the largest US financial services company. Citi shares have fallen by about a third this year, and the company has taken massive write-downs for mortgage-related holdings.
Pandit`s career has included heading investment banking and capital markets at Morgan Stanley. He joined Citigroup five months ago when the bank bought his year-old hedge fund firm, Old Lane Partners, for $800 million.
Vikram Pandit is a Nagpur-born NRI and a Citigroup neophyte. Pandit, whose elevation had been in the air for several days, replaces the charismatic Charles O. "Chuck" Prince III. Pandit, who is 50, is the first person of Indian origin to scale such stratospheric heights in the financial world, which has many well-regarded Indian executives. Citigroup has operations in more than 100 countries, with 300,000 employees and two trillion dollars in assets.
Some reports has hyperbolically projected a toss-up between Pandit and former Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz for the CEO job, but the latter, a former mid-level Citibank executive, was not even in the picture, and the story appeared more a flight of fancy by those consumed with India-Pakistan equation.
If anything, Pandit edged out another Indian, Ajay Banga, who runs Citigroup's international-consumer group, for the plum job. Others in the running included former Citigroup President Robert Willumstad and Michael Neal, who runs General Electric Co.'s (GE) commercial-finance business.
The word in the financial world is that Pandit was the consensus choice, and particularly favored by Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who has tracked Pandit's career for several years. According to one account, Rubin became aware of Pandit at a private meeting of Wall Street executives in late 1999 at the Century Association, a 161- year-old private club in Manhattan.
The meeting was hosted by then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt, who wanted ideas on changes needed for US stock markets. Pandit, who is credited with building the electronic trading system at the investment banking group Morgan Stanley, was so articulate in his responses that Rubin asked the person next to him who he was.
Before joining Citigroup, Pandit served as president and chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley from 2000 to 2005. He left Morgan Stanley, and in 2006, formed Old Lane Capital, a hedge-fund firm, that Citigroup acquired in April this year for $600 million.
ikram Shankar Pandit, the son of a pharma representative and businessman, came to the US when he was only 16 for undergraduate studies at Columbia University, home to several prominent Indian academics, including the economist Jagdish Bhagwati and the alma mater of Dr B R Ambedkar. Pandit serves on the boards of Columbia University, Columbia Business School, India School of Business Hyderabad, India and the Trinity School (NY). He is a former board member of NASDAQ, New York City Investment Fund, American India Foundation and the Council on U.S. Competitiveness. He earned a Ph.D in Finance from Columbia University. He also holds a Master's degree and a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University. Mentors cited in a recent profile described him as a relentlessly hardworking student, the kind who relished challenges.
He will have monumental ones at Citigroup. The bank has suffered staggering losses in recent times in the mortgage melt-down and other exposures. Shares of Citigroup dropped to below 30 dollars for the first time in five years even as the financial flame-out consumed CEO Prince and many other Wall Street stalwarts.
The situation was considered so dire that a $7.5 billion capital infusion by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority last month was seen as a part bailout from the nearly 17 billion dollar write-off relating to soured mortgages.
Pandit is seen as a cautious and conservative banker. Many experts say the new CEO will need not just punditry but also some wizardry to extricate the bank from the mess. In a statement following his elevation, Pandit said he would "undertake an objective and dispassionate review of all the businesses, individually and in aggregate, to make sure we are properly positioned for the future."
Pandit also promised simplify the company's organizational structure, align businesses and resources with appropriate goals, with economic realities being among our initial priorities, a sure sign that there will be some soul-searching and cleansing. "During Vikram's time at Citi, he has come to know this company and its people, and he has earned the respect of managers and directors alike for his incisive intellect and ability to balance risk and opportunity in making and executing tough decisions." Rubin commented.
But some investors expressed concern that the 50-year-old, India-born executive has never run a public company, let alone one as big and complex as Citi. Pandit also has no experience leading a consumer business, which at Citi generates more than half of overall revenue.
The appointment of Bischoff, 66, was a surprise. Formerly chairman of Citi`s international businesses, Bischoff served as acting CEO for the past five weeks. Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who has served as chairman in the interim, will return to his duties as chairman of the executive committee.
Take Care...
Citigroup has named its investment banking head, Vikram Pandit, as the group's chief executive and acting CEO Win Bischoff as its chairman, disappointing investors who wanted a big-name outsider to overhaul the bank. Citi had been seeking a replacement for former CEO Charles Prince, who left on 4 November under pressure from shareholders frustrated by the performance of the largest US financial services company. Citi shares have fallen by about a third this year, and the company has taken massive write-downs for mortgage-related holdings.
Pandit`s career has included heading investment banking and capital markets at Morgan Stanley. He joined Citigroup five months ago when the bank bought his year-old hedge fund firm, Old Lane Partners, for $800 million.
Vikram Pandit is a Nagpur-born NRI and a Citigroup neophyte. Pandit, whose elevation had been in the air for several days, replaces the charismatic Charles O. "Chuck" Prince III. Pandit, who is 50, is the first person of Indian origin to scale such stratospheric heights in the financial world, which has many well-regarded Indian executives. Citigroup has operations in more than 100 countries, with 300,000 employees and two trillion dollars in assets.
Some reports has hyperbolically projected a toss-up between Pandit and former Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz for the CEO job, but the latter, a former mid-level Citibank executive, was not even in the picture, and the story appeared more a flight of fancy by those consumed with India-Pakistan equation.
If anything, Pandit edged out another Indian, Ajay Banga, who runs Citigroup's international-consumer group, for the plum job. Others in the running included former Citigroup President Robert Willumstad and Michael Neal, who runs General Electric Co.'s (GE) commercial-finance business.
The word in the financial world is that Pandit was the consensus choice, and particularly favored by Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who has tracked Pandit's career for several years. According to one account, Rubin became aware of Pandit at a private meeting of Wall Street executives in late 1999 at the Century Association, a 161- year-old private club in Manhattan.
The meeting was hosted by then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt, who wanted ideas on changes needed for US stock markets. Pandit, who is credited with building the electronic trading system at the investment banking group Morgan Stanley, was so articulate in his responses that Rubin asked the person next to him who he was.
Before joining Citigroup, Pandit served as president and chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley from 2000 to 2005. He left Morgan Stanley, and in 2006, formed Old Lane Capital, a hedge-fund firm, that Citigroup acquired in April this year for $600 million.
ikram Shankar Pandit, the son of a pharma representative and businessman, came to the US when he was only 16 for undergraduate studies at Columbia University, home to several prominent Indian academics, including the economist Jagdish Bhagwati and the alma mater of Dr B R Ambedkar. Pandit serves on the boards of Columbia University, Columbia Business School, India School of Business Hyderabad, India and the Trinity School (NY). He is a former board member of NASDAQ, New York City Investment Fund, American India Foundation and the Council on U.S. Competitiveness. He earned a Ph.D in Finance from Columbia University. He also holds a Master's degree and a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University. Mentors cited in a recent profile described him as a relentlessly hardworking student, the kind who relished challenges.
He will have monumental ones at Citigroup. The bank has suffered staggering losses in recent times in the mortgage melt-down and other exposures. Shares of Citigroup dropped to below 30 dollars for the first time in five years even as the financial flame-out consumed CEO Prince and many other Wall Street stalwarts.
Name: Vikram Shankar Pandit
Born: 1957, Dhantoli, Nagpur, Maharashtra
Background: Pandit was born to a middle-class family. He came to the US at age 16 in 1973 with his father.
Education:
1976: Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University
1977: Master's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University
1986: Ph.D in Finance from Columbia University in 1986.
Professional Experience:
1983: President and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley's institutional securities and investment banking business and was a member of the firm's Management Committee.
2000-2005: President and Chief Operating Officer of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for the overall management of the group and focused on the trading, sales and infrastructure aspects of the business
1994: 2000: Serves as the managing director and head of the Worldwide Institutional Equities Division of Morgan Stanley
2006: Launches his own hedge fund, Old Lane LP
2007: Sells Old Lane for $800 million to Citigroup, where he takes up a job reporting to Chuck Prince, the then CEO of Citigroup
2007: Joins as chairman and CEO of Citi's Institutional Clients Group, which includes Markets & Banking and Citi Alternative Investments.
Other Interests:
Pandit serves on the boards of Columbia University, Columbia Business School, the Indian School of Business, and Trinity School. He is a former board member of NASDAQ, the New York City Investment Fund, and the American India Foundation.
Born: 1957, Dhantoli, Nagpur, Maharashtra
Background: Pandit was born to a middle-class family. He came to the US at age 16 in 1973 with his father.
Education:
1976: Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University
1977: Master's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University
1986: Ph.D in Finance from Columbia University in 1986.
Professional Experience:
1983: President and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley's institutional securities and investment banking business and was a member of the firm's Management Committee.
2000-2005: President and Chief Operating Officer of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for the overall management of the group and focused on the trading, sales and infrastructure aspects of the business
1994: 2000: Serves as the managing director and head of the Worldwide Institutional Equities Division of Morgan Stanley
2006: Launches his own hedge fund, Old Lane LP
2007: Sells Old Lane for $800 million to Citigroup, where he takes up a job reporting to Chuck Prince, the then CEO of Citigroup
2007: Joins as chairman and CEO of Citi's Institutional Clients Group, which includes Markets & Banking and Citi Alternative Investments.
Other Interests:
Pandit serves on the boards of Columbia University, Columbia Business School, the Indian School of Business, and Trinity School. He is a former board member of NASDAQ, the New York City Investment Fund, and the American India Foundation.
The situation was considered so dire that a $7.5 billion capital infusion by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority last month was seen as a part bailout from the nearly 17 billion dollar write-off relating to soured mortgages.
Pandit is seen as a cautious and conservative banker. Many experts say the new CEO will need not just punditry but also some wizardry to extricate the bank from the mess. In a statement following his elevation, Pandit said he would "undertake an objective and dispassionate review of all the businesses, individually and in aggregate, to make sure we are properly positioned for the future."
Pandit also promised simplify the company's organizational structure, align businesses and resources with appropriate goals, with economic realities being among our initial priorities, a sure sign that there will be some soul-searching and cleansing. "During Vikram's time at Citi, he has come to know this company and its people, and he has earned the respect of managers and directors alike for his incisive intellect and ability to balance risk and opportunity in making and executing tough decisions." Rubin commented.
But some investors expressed concern that the 50-year-old, India-born executive has never run a public company, let alone one as big and complex as Citi. Pandit also has no experience leading a consumer business, which at Citi generates more than half of overall revenue.
The appointment of Bischoff, 66, was a surprise. Formerly chairman of Citi`s international businesses, Bischoff served as acting CEO for the past five weeks. Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who has served as chairman in the interim, will return to his duties as chairman of the executive committee.
Take Care...