Prince to Succeed Weill As Citigroup Chair
Tuesday March 21, 4:54 pm ET
By Eileen Alt Powell, AP Business Writer
Citigroup Board of Directors Selects Charles Prince to Replace Sanford Weill As Chairman
NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc.'s board on Tuesday announced that it has selected Chief Executive Officer Charles Prince to succeed Sanford I. Weill as chairman when he retires April 18 at the annual meeting of the nation's largest financial institution.
Prince will also retain the CEO title.
Prince, 56, succeeded Weill as CEO in October 2003. Weill, who turned 73 last week, has made it known for months that he will retire from the bank's board this year.
The board said in its announcement that Weill will be given the honorary title "chairman emeritus."
Weill has been at the helm of the company since 1998, when he merged his insurance company Travelers Group with Citicorp, as the bank then was known. Citigroup spun off Travelers Property Casualty Corp. in 2002.
Citigroup's shares closed down 18 cents at $47.22 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Alain Belda, Citigroup's lead director, said in a statement announcing the decision to give Weill the "emeritus" title that "Sandy has played a critical role in creating Citigroup, which has become the model of the modern, global financial services company, and has generated superior value for the company's stakeholders."
Belda also said that the decision to name Prince as chairman was unanimous.
Since becoming CEO, Prince "has sharpened Citigroup's strategic focus; created a growth strategy that capitalizes on the company's unique strengths; installed a talented and dedicated leadership team from our deep bench; strengthened internal controls; and focused our people on how they conduct themselves as part of a leading, global institution."
Weill said in the statement that "I am proud of what we have built, and proud of the people who have contributed to making Citigroup the leading global financial services company."
There was no mention of what Weill plans to do next, but last July there were reports that he considered retiring early to start a hedge fund.
Prince, who is a lawyer, has directed day-to-day operations at the bank during a difficult period for Citigroup.
He helped negotiate settlements with regulators and shareholders over the collapse of Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. and had to deal with scandals over allegations of illegal bond trading in Europe and irregularities in its private banking operations in Japan. The Japanese eventually forced Citigroup to close the operations.
The Federal Reserve, in an unusual step, last summer barred Citigroup from future acquisitions until it improved its internal management controls.
Since then, Prince has tried to steer a path away from legal and regulatory problems and toward organic growth. Among his actions has been the adoption of a five-point plan to improve the company's ethical performance.
Still, he's lost several top executives. Citibank President Robert B. Willumstad, who was passed over for the CEO job, left the company last year to pursue a top job at another company, and Marge Magner, the widely respected head of global consumer banking, left last August.
Just last week, Citigroup announced that Michael Carpenter, chairman and CEO of Citigroup alternative investments was leaving "to pursue opportunities to create an entrepreneurial venture; Carpenter had been with Weill at Travelers.
In Tuesday's statement, Prince praised Weill for his "vision and dedication."
He added: "I am confident that the plans we are pursuing will enable us to build on his singular record of success. I appreciate the confidence the Board has expressed in me and remain focused on our global growth priorities."
Citigroup has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries. It had nearly $1.5 trillion in assets at year's end.
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