With fresh losses from distressed mortgage assets leading to a massive write-down and sharp drop in profits, Prince late Friday called for a special board meeting. The move ends the four-year tenure of Prince, a lieutenant of former Citigroup head Sanford Weill, who built the financial giant through acquisitions.
Robert Rubin, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, will become Citigroup's chairman, while Sir Win Bischoff, the chairman of Citigroup's European operations, will become interim chief executive.
Earlier in the year, Prince was quoted in the Financial Times as saying:
“When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will be complicated. But as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.”
Evidently the music has stopped, leaving Prince without a chair. The resignation makes Prince the second major Wall Street CEO to leave his job in a week, following the ouster of Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal on Tuesday. — Matthew Wurtzel
See the full story from TheDeal.com
The credit crunch has claimed its second victim: Charles Prince, chairman and CEO of financial giant Citigroup, resigned at a special board meeting on Sunday.
