As you may or may not have noticed, things have really been looking up at Citi. The bank beat Goldman at something, it got the government’s ball-gag removed from its mouth and today comes the news it was able to land a big hire in academic rainmaker, Peter Orszag, whose job description is “youngest member of Citi’s Senior Strategic Advisory group, a counsel of Wall Street wise men that its bankers can call on to parachute in with advice on complex deals.” And that’s not all.

According to Dealbook, “Citigroup did not disclose Mr. Orzag’s compensation arrangement, but is likely to be far higher than what he earned as member of President Obama’s cabinet.” If we were talking about another Wall Street firm, this would be the moment at which one might offer “ya think?!” But we’re talking about Citi, where bonus expectations for the last several years have topped out at one free pass to Vikram’s Boom Boom Room. So this is heartening! We can now say with certainty Citi pays more than the US government! (Unless you are its CEO, in which case, you’re still getting $1.) Whether you’re looking to trade, liaise with clients or rappel down the side of the Pfizer, kick open the window of the room in which a meeting is taking place an announce, “FREEZE. I’M FROM CITIGROUP” before advising the company on a deal, put in a resume today.

Ex-White House Budget Director Joins Citigroup [Dealbook]

Comments (16)

  1. Posted by tits | December 9, 2010 at 7:44 PM

    A stream of top talent leaving JPM & GS for Citi?

    Soon you’ll be saying UBS doesn’t suck.

  2. Posted by Anon | December 9, 2010 at 7:51 PM

    turn on your sarcasm detector, then read this post again.

  3. Posted by Guest | December 9, 2010 at 7:53 PM

    Re: rappel down the side of the Pfizer, kick open the window of the room in which a meeting is taking place an announce, “FREEZE. I’M FROM CITIGROUP”

    I am currently available for hire, and can provide my own rappelling cable/penis, have experience.

    - Dickie Fuld

  4. Posted by derp | December 9, 2010 at 8:06 PM

    It’s spelled “Toupée”

  5. Posted by Anonymous | December 9, 2010 at 8:11 PM

    “…the youngest member of Mr. Obama’s cabinet before resigning this summer after a year and a half as budget director, a post in which he shaped the stimulus package…” let’s see, that stimlus packaged worked so well, we didn’t need a second one, oh wait. yep, he should fit right in at citi.

  6. Posted by BoofBonser | December 9, 2010 at 8:13 PM

    Peter Orszag: Why does my finger smell like Meredith Whitney?

  7. Posted by Guessed | December 9, 2010 at 8:21 PM

    Seems like a dream job, I heard that his powerpoint was really, really good.

  8. Posted by Anon | December 9, 2010 at 8:23 PM

    you’re good.

  9. Posted by Charlie Munger | December 9, 2010 at 8:38 PM

    How will the Senior Strategic Advisory group respond when Orzag’s merger advice is “have the accounting department print up $500 mil in fresh hundreds and use it to buy that competitor you’ve had your eye on”?

  10. Posted by Guest | December 9, 2010 at 8:47 PM

    what? is that not a good idea?

  11. Posted by Anonymous | December 9, 2010 at 9:11 PM

    So Orszag, a former director of the OMB in the administration that saw fit to engage in unprecedented deficit spending to bailout virtually every large financial institution (and union employer), has recently accepted a high-paying position with Citi (arguably one of the largest benefactors of said bailouts).

    Now that’s change I can believe in!

  12. Posted by AdolfParody | December 9, 2010 at 9:24 PM

    “I just watched some parody video and there is a guy with a mustache freaking out that he got banned from Xbox live. Pretty funny…”

  13. Posted by History is a useless degree | December 9, 2010 at 10:09 PM

    the Republicans have it better. First they get the money through rents via their connections, then they get the power, then they get the crippling collapse of the economy going. The Democrats do it in reverse.

  14. Posted by Gs_baller | December 10, 2010 at 2:30 AM

    Last I checked Citi’s bonus number was top of the street this year.

  15. Posted by Master of the Obvious | December 10, 2010 at 2:51 AM

    ^^^^^^Clearly works for Citi.

  16. Posted by Goodtimes | December 13, 2010 at 8:12 PM

    Another servant for the 1%, he earned it though. http://tinyurl.com/2bxg8tp

Leave a comment

You can log in with your account or comment as a guest below.