TimesOnline reports that Meredith Whitney, a CIBC analyst, has received death threats. Whitney who is married to the former World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) champion Death Mask, downgraded Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) on Thursday -- citing its need to raise a $30 billion capital cushion. Her "underperform" rating of Citigroup helped send its shares down 7% -- leading her to receive several death threats from Citigroup investors.
Whitney married the wrestler Death Mask, also known as John Charles Layfield, 2½ years ago after they met on a TV set. Layfield credits Whitney with helping to make him more sophisticated -- he noted: "She took a country boy like me and kind of refined me. I know what fork to use now at the dinner table, and I drink my beer from a glass." This has not stopped the brave Whitney from earning rave reviews as an analyst -- Forbes ranked her second-best stock picker for 2007.
In a free society, people should be able to express their opinions without fear of bodily harm. For those Citigroup investors who don't like what she wrote, you should be happy that her downgrade may have helped push Citigroup's board to replace Chuck Prince. It remains to be seen whether Prince's replacement can do a better job of boosting its share price.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns Citigroup stock and has no financial interest in WWE.
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