It was not enough that Citigroup (NYSE: C)'s CEO Vikram Pandit sold the bank a hedge fund business which lost most of it value, now he is being accused of being too slow in coming to decisions and making it difficult to turn the bank around. Investors can always hope he will be pushed out. It would probably add $5 to Citi's share price.
According to The Wall Street Journal, "Even executives who praise his cautious, deliberative approach express concern Mr. Pandit is taking too long to make decisions." Add to that the concern that Pandit has not disclosed his longer-term plan for the business.
The attacks on Pandit appear to be lead by the founder of the modern Citi, Sandy Weill. The deal-maker created the complex company and would probably be best to keep his thoughts to himself. He bears at least as much responsibility for Citi's problems as his hand-picked successor Chuck Prince.
None of that lets Pandit off the hook. He has made no real attempt to streamline the company by selling off any major assets. Is Citi a stock broker though Smith Barney, an investment bank, a consumer bank, or a corporate lender? As Warren Buffett recently pointed out, some large financial companies have become too complex to run. Pandit needs to sell-off some assets and focus the firm on two or three core operations.
Right now, it looks like Citi may have three bad CEOs in row.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-06-2008 @ 12:13PM
David Huston said...
Three on a match. Probably the best approach would be to hire Sandy Weill back to run the show, at least until it is stabilized (if ever).
5-06-2008 @ 1:41PM
barneyrin said...
got your shorts on, Doug?
5-06-2008 @ 4:05PM
Chuck said...
Way to go Pandit--sell more stock and dilute the value of already existing shares. Get rid of him!! Sandy needs to come back and try to bring this whole thing under control.