Is there a more dysfunctional corporate culture on Wall Street than Citigroup? Even as the bank moves closer to buying a one year old hedge fund for a reported $600 million in an effort to recruit a former Morgan Stanley executive, reports are filtering out about in-fighting and backstabbing at the highest levels of the financial giant. Citigroup is thought to suffer from a lack of leadership in the top ranks but its top ranks certainly don’t lack for ambition.
The word on the street is that Citigroup chief executive Chuck Prince might not last out the year, and his would be successors are angling for the top slot. Chief Operating Officer Robert Druskin is considered a force to be reckoned with, but we’re hearing his chances have been hurt by the market’s flaccid reaction to the much heralded cost-cutting measures.
The New York Post yesterday handicapped the various players.
The cutbacks could work against one of Druskin’s rival candidates, Thomas Maheras, 44, the co-head of investment banking. Since cost reductions are in step with a weakened bull market, it could signal a company focus on revenue sources other than Maheras’ investment banking group, which has slacked in the past two years.
Other top players considered likely candidates for the throne are Aljay Banga, 47, head of the bank’s global consumer group; Michael Klein, 43, who’s co-head of investment banking with Maheras, and the new CFO Gary Crittenden, 53, appointed just a month ago.
And, of course, there’s Old Lane’s Vikram Pandit. Today the New York Times reports that Citigroup may announce the acquisition of his hedge fund as early as Tuesday. He’s said to be a more than capable manager. But before you go long on Vikram, keep in mind that he left Morgan Stanley to go after the hedge fund bucks. At least one person familiar with Vikkers has told DealBreaker that they doubt he really wants to run the bank.
One more thought: where’s Sallie Krawcheck on this list?
Prince’s Heir [New York Post]
To Snare a Coveted Banker, Citigroup May Buy a Hedge Fund [New York Times]
What at first glance, comes to mind is that Thomas, Aljay and Michael need to get next the the Citi Jet and then next to Maria and start flying back and forth to China. They’ll get in the news and Citi might survive,
I thought Vikram left MS to go after the hedge fund bucks because he got passed over for a promotion at MS, so why would he not want to run Citi? Well, besides the fact that a lot of people probably wouldn’t want to run Citi.
Krawcheck’s claim to fame is that she is competent, which is generally irrelevant in succession battles and particularly irrelevant at Citi. My guess is she comes to the fore only if certain events align: either the other guys disqualify themselves (scandals, overplaying thier hand, profit drop in their area) or for some reason the board decides it wants somebody who looks squeaky clean (she is better on that front than the others).
Just to say….AMEN to what Archer said.
maheras is actually co-head of the corporate and investment bank (which includes sales& trading, and some other cash management division) He was head of capital markets until the recent reshuffle. Klien was head of the banking group (which is IBD and the corporate bank)…whereas Druskin was CEO of the entire Corporate and Investment bank and their boss before moving to the COO job at Citigroup (which is of course includes all the stray cats uncle sandy gathered)
A shittybanker.
I worked in citi’s fixed income division until 2006 and no insider realistically expects Druskin to succeed Prince, since both are cut from the same cloth. Druskin like Prince is not a banker but emerged from the back office. He has succeeed at citi because he was a compliant company man rather than someone who leads from the front and takes hard decisions.
So what of the rivals? Maheras’ capital markets division makes multiples of what Klein’s banking divison makes, but Maheras has in the past few years subsumed his old Salomon risk taking appetite to the drab citi (i.e. Prince) way of doing things. My guess is that if an insider is chosen, Rubin will choose Klein – he’s a banker, untainted by scandal and has international experience.
Citi only need hiring one man, Dimon, and fire one: Prince. Every problem will be solved.
Image one CEO has spent over one year focusing on so-called 5 star plan instead of focusing on business and growth.
Too naive, even claimed that growth rate will be two digital automatically after cleaning up scandals.
When every other investment baking is successful, he is making citi’s IB weaker,
more regulation make company less efficient. But he is proud of doing this because he is just a lawyzer not a banker.
Sounds like a company I’d want to work for. I agree that Citi’s biggest mistake was losing Dimon back in the day.
struggling, if yes, there are solution to your problem. Isn’t it confusing where to place your investments because you’ll never know if it will be successful or not. Choosing your investment is very complicated thus it is wise to check beforehand, as there are some stocks that don’t make for as good an investment as you might think. The Forbes list of those exact investments has come out, and the list isn’t exactly a shocker. AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and GM are the stocks losing money at a frantic pace, and among them, GM is flirting with bankruptcy. This isn’t a shocker, as every one of these mega firms is currently great troubled, and went crying to the government about how they lost all their money. Every firm on the list had to get a personal loan from the taxpayers. It’s a subject of great speculation if we’ll get a return on our investment. Visit: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/04/27/invest-money-wisely-avoid-2009s-top-5-biggest-losers/“
Isn’t it confusing where to place your investments because you’ll never know if it will be successful or not. Choosing your investment is very complicated thus it is wise to check beforehand, as there are some stocks that don’t make for as good an investment as you might think. The Forbes list of those exact investments has come out, and the list isn’t exactly a shocker. AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and GM are the stocks losing money at a frantic pace, and among them, GM is flirting with bankruptcy. This isn’t a shocker, as every one of these mega firms is currently great troubled, and went crying to the government about how they lost all their money. Every firm on the list had to get a personal loan from the taxpayers. It’s a subject of great speculation if we’ll get a return on our investment.