Connections and Experience Explain Citi Vote for Pandit and Bischoff
Citigroup made its highly anticipated announcement that it has finally elected a new CEO and Chairman of the Board. Vikram Pandit, the frontrunner in the mass speculation of who would secure the top spot, has been named CEO and Sir Winfried FW Bischoff will be the company’s Chairman. Both were elected to fill the CEO/Chairman positions left by Charles O Prince III, who resigned in November amidst multi-billion dollar write-downs. The decision was quickly met with criticism from analysts and investors who aren’t confident in the leadership qualities of Pandit and Bischoff (see article from The New York Times DealBook).
NewsVisual created IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of the corporate experience of Pandit and Bischoff in order to look at the evidence behind this claim of lack of leadership and possibly find the answer as to why Citigroup’s board made that final choice.
In this first Knowledge Map, Bischoff’s multiple connections are clearly portrayed, illustrating his extensive experience in corporate leadership. Not only was he Chairman of Citi Europe and Acting CEO of Citi, he held Senior Executive positions with Schroders PLC and J Henry Schroder & Co. He has held Directorships with numerous companies, including Cable and Wireless, IFIL and Siemens Holdings, and is currently a Board Member for corporate entities that include The McGraw-Hill Companies, Land Securities PLC and Eli Lilly and Company. With such a degree of Board and Executive experience across a multitude of industries, it’s not so surprising that Bischoff was chosen as Citi’s Chairman.
A second Knowledge Map of Vikram Pandit’s executive experience reveals the ties to Morgan Stanley that may have made a big impression on Citigroup’s board, in addition to Pandit’s experience as Head of Citi’s Alternative Investments. Despite not having as much experience and connections as some of those he was competing against for the CEO position (see December 10 NewsVisual article), it’s clear that Pandit’s performance with key entities like Morgan Stanley is what ultimately got him noticed.
Despite some of the negative analyst reactions to the decision, the experience and connections of Bischoff and Pandit will likely go far in promoting positive results for Citigroup.
(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).
Click here for or copy these links into your Internet Explorer browsers for Interactive versions of these IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps:
Sir Win Bischoff: http://nv.intellectspace.com
Vikram Pandit: http://nv.intellectspace.com
Comments