Yesterday's departure of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) executive Todd Thomson may have been helped along by his use of Citigroup's corporate jet to fly General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) CNBC reporter, Maria Bartiromo from Asia. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Todd & Maria-gate Memo will follow the ongoing saga.
This morning's Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that Todd Thomson used $5 million of his Citigroup marketing budget to finance a Sundance Channel program which was slated to be hosted by Robert Redford and Maria Bartiromo. [Bartiromo is no longer slated to host this program].
But wait, there's more. In 2005, current Chief Operating Officer Bob Druskin spotted Thomson having dinner with Bartiromo at the ritzy Daniel restaurant while Druskin was hosting a holiday dinner there for his investment banking management team.
Last November, Thomson flew Bartiromo to speak to Citigroup's private-banking clients at luncheons in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He flew with a group of Citigroup employees to Asia, but flew back to the U.S. on the corporate jet with Bartiromo.
After this November incident, Citigroup CEO, Chuck Prince, asked Thomson to stop spending Citigroup money on Bartiromo. Six weeks later, Thomson surprised Prince with The Sundance sponsorship announcement. This prompted Thomson's departure.
This saga raises questions of interest to Citigroup and GE investors, including:
- After all of Prince's blunders, are Citigroup directors debating his fate?
- Was GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, involved in approving Bartiromo's $48,000 flight from Asia on Citigroup's jet?
- Will GE require CNBC anchors to disclose their business relationships with the companies they cover?
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, a Professor of Management at Babson College, and editor of The Cohan Letter. He has appeared as a guest on CNBC and owns Citigroup and GE stock.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-24-2007 @ 11:52AM
jrg said...
as a pilot it doesn't cost anything for one more person on the plane.What everyone up so tight
about Maria going on that flight.They wouldn'T HAD TO PAY THE PILOTS THEY WOULD HAVE FLOWN HER FREE.
Its a sad day when someone is accused of doing
wrong before the fact.The best things in life are not necessarily free.
1-24-2007 @ 11:57AM
jrg said...
as a pilot it doesn't cost anything for one more person on the plane.What everyone up so tight
about Maria going on that flight.They wouldn'T HAD TO PAY THE PILOTS THEY WOULD HAVE FLOWN HER FREE.
Its a sad day when someone is accused of doing
wrong before the fact.The best things in life are not necessarily free.
1-24-2007 @ 12:05PM
John said...
Glad that Maria is dumping that creep Robert Redford
1-24-2007 @ 1:51PM
Bruce E Warnock said...
We are retired owners of GE stock and are dismayed at the allegations in this situation. If Maria has violated published GE policy, then she should be disciplined just like any other employee.
1-26-2007 @ 4:50PM
Borax Johnson said...
I'm having a little trouble trying to figure out what is the bigger scandal here. Is it:
A) That there might be "insider: information passed along,
B) That GE's shareholders are on the ticket for $48 bones of airfare (that's what they used to spend on Jack Welch just to get him to his shareholder financed countryclub each day in retirement), or
C) That Maria & Todd got their DNA all over a G-V's interior?
Enquiring minds want to know...
3-22-2007 @ 7:26AM
Alphillips said...
Remember above anything else, that Maria Accepted the favors of Thomson. As a married woman WHY? Yes no doubt they exchanged DNA in the cabin of the Citi Jet but, Nobody shoved it down her throat, she could have not been there.....understand??
3-22-2007 @ 7:36AM
Alphillips said...
Im up to March 21 will this comment understand clearly Borax Johnsons insight. What the hell were the two doing on a 15 hour flight from China when the event was covered by Maria Bartiromo for CNBC. I don't totally blame Thomson in the matter, Bartiromo is every bit as much at fault as any other consenting adult and participant. She could have said No to Thomson and let GE/CNBC book her and her crew but, no.,...there is something there and one day we will find it.
3-22-2007 @ 7:50PM
Alphillips said...
Remember above anything else, that Maria Accepted the favors of Thomson. As a married woman WHY? Yes no doubt they exchanged DNA in the cabin of the Citi Jet but, Nobody shoved it down her throat, she could have not been there.....understand??