Chuck Prince

The price of a departing rainmaker

Jim Kim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:57:20 -0400

We should all leave on these terms. Michael Klein, who resigned as head of Citi's investment banking division, will receive more than $42 million in cash and stock in severance. The Financial Times calls it "one of the largest sums paid to a departing banker who was not a chief executive since the beginning of the credit crunch...more than that received by his former boss, Chuck Prince." Compensation experts told the FT Klein met "the rule of 60": when the sum of an executive's age and their years of service exceeds 60, he or she is entitled to most of their accrued benefits. Klein, 44, had a 23-year career at Citi. He is prevented from joining 12 rivals of Citigroup, but he is free to join a private equity firm. He also agreed not to poach employees and clients from Citigroup. The payout reflects all that.

For more:
- here's the FT article

Is Citigroup too big to manage?

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Few companies generate press like Citigroup. Fortune at least asks an interesting question: is the banking behemoth too big to manage? Well, the only one who really has to answer that is Vikram Pandit. A lot of good men have failed: John Reed, arguably Sandy Weill, certainly Chuck Prince. But by signaling that he will not break up the company, Pandit is declaring himself fit for the job. This is biting off a whole lot. We can only hope he sees something beyond sheer breadth, which dazzled his predecessors. I wonder how long analysts and top shareholders will give him before they demand results. Unfortunately, no one can say that there's no way things could get worse. Bottom line: he'll end up a legend or yet another goat.

For more:
- here's the Fortune article

Will CEO turmoil continue?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

We've seen a lot of high profile CEO lose their jobs. Stanley O'Neal. Chuck Prince. Jimmy Cayne. But at least one MarketWatch commentator thinks at least two other fairly big name CEOs ought to be similarly shown the door. He says that Ken Thompson, of Wachovia, and Kerry Killinger, of Washington Mutual, "were exposed as overhyped pedestrian CEOs this week." Ouch! PR folks, do something. Killinger was rapped for the $1.1 billion loss and the required dilutive $7 billion capital infusion from private equity investors. Thomson was pilloried for the disastrous Golden West purchase. The jury remains out on several CEOs, including Ken Lewis of Bank of America, who's betting big on Countrywide.

For more:
- here's the commentary

John Mack on the hot seat

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

John Mack, so far, has been spared the same fate as Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal, Citigroup's Chuck Prince and Bear Stearns' Jimmy Cayne. But the CEO and chairman of Morgan Stanley has a lot weighing on him right now. At least one activist shareholder group is weighing a campaign to install an independent chairman, according to the New York Times. It's been a tough road for the man many thought would save Morgan Stanley. He championed the use of risk, perhaps eying the results at archrival Goldman Sachs. But the aggressive deployment of the balance sheet seemed to backfire when the credit crunch hit. The board, so far, has voiced confidence in Mack as chairman and CEO. But a nice symbolic move--one to underscore that it's taking its role seriously--would be to separate the positions.

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

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SPOTLIGHT: 3 Blind Mice

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:59:52 -0400

See how they ..defend their pay. Angelo Mizilo, Stanley O' Neal and Chuck Prince all appeared before a house committee and argued they deserved their pay even as their companies reeled. Article