Trustee Picked to Head Citigroup

University Trustee Vikram Pandit, SEAS ’76 and ’77, GSAS ’80, and Business ’86, was named Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Tuesday.

Pandit, who is widely respected on Wall Street, is the first Indian CEO of a bulge bracket firm. Pandit received four degrees from Columbia, including an MS and BS in electrical engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a Masters of Philosophy, and a Ph.D. in finance from the Business School. He was appointed to the University’s Board of Trustees in 2003.

“Vikram has earned a reputation as one of the most respected leaders in the financial services industry. The combination of his deep executive experience and long history as a strategic thinker makes him the outstanding choice to be Citi's CEO,” outgoing Citigroup Chairman Robert Rubin said in a statement praising Pandit. “As part of a new generation of executives in this industry, Vikram is the right leader to build on the exceptional strengths of this great company and take the steps necessary to lead us forward."

Overseeing $2.4 trillion in assets, Citigroup is the largest firm in the world.

“Columbia Business School is pleased to congratulate Vikram Pandit, PhD ’86, on having been named CEO of Citigroup,” the school said in a statement.

Pandit replaces Charles Prince as CEO of Citgroup. Prince resigned in November under significant pressure following a six-month period in which the stock price dropped 35 percent, due in part to the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis which hit the market over the summer. In the third quarter of this year, the company issued a $3.4 billion write-down on mortgage based security, prompting a 60 percent drop in earnings. He left as the bank announced that it would incur as much as $11 billion in mortgage-related losses.

In 2005, Pandit left Morgan Stanley, where he had spent the previous five years, to start his own hedge fund, Old Lane Partners LP. Citigroup purchased Old Lane in April of this year and appointed Pandit CEO of Citi Alternative Investments. Pandit also spent three years as the Director of the Board of NASDAQ. The 50 year-old Pandit was born in Bombay and came to the United States as a teenager.

During his time as a member of the Board of Trustees, Pandit has been involved with Columbia’s proposed expansion into Manhattanville and the University’s $4 billion capital campaign. He has also served on the Board of Trustees at the Trinity School.