Gary Crittenden, fairly or not, will either be portrayed as the hero or as the goat at Citigroup. As the new CFO, he steps into a situation that seems perfect for his background. At American Express, he helped tailor a strategy around organic growth and held the reins on the 2005 spin-off of Ameriprise Financial. He is also seen as a strong financial manager, who just might be able to placate some restive Citigroup shareholders and deal with the analysts. Most people assume that if he does well, he will emerge as the likely successor to CEO Charles Prince. If he fails, he will likely be shown the door. Prince Goldsmith, a small executive search firm that focuses on financial services, conducted the search. This will be interesting to watch. Crittenden will be in fishbowl almost immediately. Good luck!

For more:
- here's the New York Times article