Next in Line at Citigroup: Jitters
Charles O. Prince, Citigroup Inc.'s next chief executive, is a fixture inside the world's largest financial-services firm. A lawyer, he has negotiated nearly every major acquisition for his boss, Sanford I. Weill, over his mentor's Wall Street career. And he has guided Citigroup's securities-firm unit after a turbulent year of scandal and regulatory scrutiny.
But investors don't know Mr. Prince well and are unsure of his management talent -- and Wednesday they showed it.
Following news that Citigroup picked Mr. Prince to become chief executive next year, the stock sank 2.8% to $45.52 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading amid heavy volume. The selloff hinted at a big question hanging over the market: How did a risk-averse lawyer who shuns attention end up with the most coveted corner office in global finance?
It wasn't by having sharp elbows. Those close to Mr. Prince say he is willing to suppress his ego when needed -- a far cry from Mr. Weill. Over a 17-year career at Citigroup and its predecessor companies, Mr. Prince, 53 years old, has learned to share power with subordinates when he believes they know their business well. The consummate Mr. Inside has been content to shun the spotlight and let his bosses, most of all Mr. Weill, play the role of Mr. Outside.
That is a role he may continue to play. Mr. Prince, named only last year as CEO of Citigroup's global corporate and investment bank, will have Mr. Weill as chairman until 2006. He is expected to lean heavily on his new second-in-command, Robert Willumstad, to keep the consumer-banking earnings machine humming at Citi. In an interview, Mr. Prince said, "Bob and I have been on the long march together," and said he considered their future task a partnership. It remains to be seen how much Mr. Prince will defer to Mr. Weill on strategic business decisions before 2006, when Mr. Weill leaves as chairman, but Mr. Weill is sure to assert himself, especially at the start.
Mr. Weill is "a very tough act to follow," Mr. Prince acknowledged in an interview. But he said of his new chief operating officer, Mr. Willumstad, in a talk with analysts Wednesday morning: "Bob and I have been partners and friends for 17 years. We trained with Sandy." A Citigroup director says: "He knows he's now going to have to step up and make his own reputation."
Should the partnership with Mr. Willumstad falter -- for example, if Mr. Willumstad is lured elsewhere or is dissatisfied playing second fiddle -- Citigroup could be in a bind. For now, the arrangement seems to offer something for everyone: Mr. Weill stays very much in charge, Mr. Prince has backup during his trial by fire, and the board can move beyond the succession question.
Michael Holland, head of the New York investment firm Holland & Co., sees his appointment as an "all clear" signal that Citigroup for now has the best of two worlds: a financial lion as chairman and a CEO liked by regulators who can steer the firm out of legal jeopardy. Along with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin as chairman of the executive committee, Mr. Holland says, "that's not a bad combination of factors right now."
Mr. Prince, who received a 2002 pay package of $2.8 million in cash and $3 million in restricted stock, is one of several lawyers whose stock is rising on Wall Street. The regulatory scrutiny of the past two years has led some firms to put attorneys in prominent leadership roles. At Credit Suisse Group's Credit Suisse First Boston unit, for example, former Shearman & Sterling senior partner Stephen Volk is chairman, and Gary Lynch, the firm's global general counsel, was named a vice chairman. Selecting a lawyer to run Citigroup is an indication of the more cautious tone on Wall Street these days in the wake of an April pact in which 10 Wall Street firms agreed to pay $1.4 billion and overhaul conflicts between analysts and investment bankers.
Mr. Prince spearheaded Citigroup's participation in that deal and agreed to pay $400 million -- the largest amount of any firm -- after damaging disclosures came to light about how the firm's analysts manipulated research at the whims of investment-banking interests. Mr. Weill gave him the job of running the investment bank last fall "to get Citigroup as lily white as possible as quickly as possible," a person familiar with Citigroup said.
Messrs. Weill and Prince met in 1986, when Mr. Prince was general counsel of a company Mr. Weill was negotiating to purchase. Since then, they have worked closely together: Mr. Weill used the purchase of that Baltimore consumer-finance company -- Commercial Credit Co. -- as the stepping stone to a voracious acquisition spree that culminated in Citigroup. Along the way, Mr. Prince negotiated deal terms; Mr. Willumstad integrated the acquisitions.
Like many Citigroup executives, Mr. Prince has incurred Mr. Weill's wrath. In his early days, he made a mistake on a regulatory filing at Commercial Credit. He went in to Mr. Weill and confessed. Mr. Weill blew up at him, and it was then that Mr. Prince felt he was a member of the team.
A workaholic, Mr. Prince is known for his loyalty to Mr. Weill. In 1997, he delayed surgery on a cancerous kidney so he could help Mr. Weill close the purchase of Salomon Brothers. The two men travel together and have gone on diets and an exercise regimen together; each recently shed about 30 pounds.
Mr. Prince typically seeks consensus. Joan Guggenheimer, who was his general counsel at the investment bank that was formerly Salomon Smith Barney before leaving for Bank One Corp. earlier this year, says Mr. Prince often nudged misguided executives "in the right direction without making people feel defensive about it. The debate doesn't ever become, 'It's my way or your way.' Instead it's 'Let's think through the right way.' "
He also gives aides a long leash once he trusts them, says Barbara Yastine, former chief financial officer of Citigroup's securities firm and now finance chief at Credit Suisse First Boston. Several years ago, Ms. Yastine says, she was on a team negotiating Commercial Credit's purchase of Security Pacific Financial Services when Mr. Prince flew out to the West Coast for a final weekend of negotiations. Instead of inserting himself into the wrangling, he listened as the deal team from Commercial Credit did the talking, interjecting just once at a tense moment to say: "I think it's time to take a break." Tempers cooled and the next day the two sides had an agreement. "If we hadn't had the right answers he would have steered us in the other direction, but he didn't dictate the strategy," says Ms. Yastine.
This past September, Mr. Weill surprised many inside Citigroup by picking Mr. Prince, then chief operating officer, to run the securities-firm unit. When Mr. Prince came in, by his own admission, he spent his first three months focusing on settling regulatory issues. Eliot Spitzer, New York's attorney general, says Mr. Prince negotiated like a seasoned lawyer.
Still, within Salomon Smith Barney, some people thought his appointment seemed "odd" and he didn't know the ropes. Employees viewed him as doing Mr. Weill's bidding. He alienated some bankers by telling them he had to stay focused on the legal issues before delving into some business topics. Some were skeptical about whether he could be the savvy leader that the firm required -- and he hasn't yet had enough time in the job for many to make up their minds.
Mr. Prince's outside profile was almost nonexistent. Citigroup declined interview requests to speak with him, and officials protected him from the public eye while he was keeping his head down learning the business. Someone who knows him says Mr. Prince preferred it that way: "Chuck doesn't like attention, he doesn't want attention."
Meantime, investors aren't the only ones with questions about Mr. Prince's depth of operations experience. Earlier this year, a Citigroup director told Mr. Weill that Mr. Prince "had better perform miracles" at Smith Barney if he were to have a shot at the top spot, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Since then, Mr. Prince has been making extensive changes to the global corporate and investment bank. His investment-bank deputy, Robert Druskin, cites how they largely got rid of "co-head" structures, stripping the leadership down, and reorganized how the bank manages relationships with key corporate customers. Mr. Prince says of his time there: "The restructuring downtown is done."
花旗新CEO的能力受到怀疑 \
查尔斯?普林斯(CHARLES O. PRINCE)将于明年出任花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)首席执行长，而且在花旗集团内部，这一职务几乎非他莫属。作为一名律师，他代表他的上司桑福德?威尔(Sanford I. Weill)参与了公司的几乎所有大型收购的谈判。而且，他已经领导集团旗下的证券公司走过了充满动荡的一年，期间这家公司不仅面对丑闻的困扰，而且受到监管机构的严格审查。
但是，投资者对普林斯知之甚少，而且对他的领导才能似乎信心不足。昨天的市场状况便清楚地表明这一点。
周三，花旗集团挑选普林斯从明年起担任首席执行长的消息一经公布，花旗集团股票应声下跌，截至下午4点，该股跌至45.52美元，幅达到2.8%，而且成交量巨大。花旗遭遇的抛盘说明市场对于一个重大问题心存顾虑：一个善于规避风险从不显山露水的律师何以能够登上全球金融领域最为令人称□的宝座。
但是，他的任命并非经过激烈角逐的结果。那些了解普林斯的人说，他愿意在必要的时候放弃自我表现的机会。这与威尔的风格可谓迥然不同。现年53岁的普林斯在花旗集团及其前身公司长达17年的职业生涯中，早已谙熟如何让下属分享权力，每当看到下属对于其所辖业务了如指掌的时候，他便会向他们下放权力。这位具有高超管理技巧的人甘于主内，无怨无悔地避开了公众的目光，让人们的视线转向他的老板，尤其是威尔。
他可能还会继续扮演这一角色。
去年刚刚受命出任花旗集团全球公司和投资银行业务首席执行长的普林斯，将让威尔留任集团董事长一职，直至2006年。而且，预计普林斯将在很大程度上倚重他新的副手罗伯特?威勒姆斯泰德(Robert Willumstad)，推动消费者银行业务继续为花旗集团创造源源不断的利润。
普林斯在接受一次采访时说，罗伯特和他长期一起共事、密切配合，而且他说，他认为两人在未来的工作中将是很好的搭档。 但在2006年之前，普林斯就一些战略决策方面将在多大程度上听取威尔的意见，目前尚不清楚。然而，威尔肯定会主动发挥巨大作用，特别是在开始阶段。
普林斯在接受采访时承认，威尔作出的卓越工作使他感到难以企及。但他在昨天早间同分析师交谈时表示，他和集团新任首席营运长威勒姆斯泰德已是17年的伙伴和朋友，而且他们同威尔之间有著良好的关系。一位花旗集团的董事说，普林斯知道自己现在将不得不站出来，为自己赢得名声。
但是，假如普林斯同威勒姆斯泰德的合作关系出现动摇，比如威勒姆斯泰德受到其他公司优厚条件的吸引，或者不再满足于作为公司的第二把手，花旗集团便可能因此陷入困境。目前来看，最近作出的人事安排让各方均有所得。威尔将在很大程度上继续发挥领导作用，普林斯在接受考验的同时还有援手，而且董事会的工作可以不再受到继任人选问题的掣肘。
纽约投资公司Holland & Co.的主管迈克尔?霍兰德(Michael Holland)称，对普林斯的任命发出一个明确的信号，花旗集团目前有两位最为优秀的领导：其董事长是金融领域举足轻重的人物，而其首席执行长受到监管人士的青睐，他能够带领公司走出法律诉讼带来的危难时期。而且，由于前任财政部长鲁宾(Robert Rubin)担任公司执行委员会主席一职，目前花旗集团管理层组成状况良好。
普林斯2002年薪酬为280万美元，另加300万美元的限制性股票。在华尔街律师领导的公司中，花旗集团的股票是为数不多的处于上升阶段的股票。过去两年以来，监管结构的调查导致许多公司将律师提升至公司的显要位置。
花旗集团挑选一位律师担任主要领导充分显示，继今年4月10家华尔街证券公司公司与政府达成和解，同意支付14亿美元并全面解决分析师和投资银行之间的利益冲突之后，华尔街公司的做法更加谨慎。
在达成上述和解的过程中，普林斯是花旗集团的主要代表并同意支付4亿美元，是各家证券公司中支付金额最高的。此前，有关该公司的分析师考虑到投资银行的利益而有意操纵研究结果的重大丑闻被曝光。一位了解花旗集团的人士称，威尔于去年秋季任命普林斯出任花旗集团旗下投资银行首席执行长，以尽快并在最大程度上洗刷其被丑闻玷污的声誉。
威尔和普林斯相识于1986年。当时，威尔正就收购一家公司展开谈判，而普林斯担任这家公司的首席法律顾问。此后，双方密切合作：威尔利用对巴尔的摩消费者金融公司Commercial Credit Co.的收购，逐步开始了大举收购的进程，并最终建立花旗集团。期间，普林斯就协议条款进行谈判，而威勒姆斯泰德则是推动顺利完成收购。
像花旗集团的许多管理人士一样，普林斯也曾引起威尔的极大愤怒。早年在Commercial Credit工作期间，他负责呈报的一份监管材料出现疏漏。他向威尔说明了这一疏漏，威尔大为光火，普林斯从此才认识到自己是管理团队的一员。
普林斯是一名工作狂，而且对威尔忠心耿耿。1997年，为了协助威尔完成对所罗门兄弟公司(Salomon Brothers)的收购，他推迟了肾癌手术。
普林斯通常能够求同存异。曾任花旗银行首席法律顾问的让?戈根海默(Joan Guggenheimer)说，普林斯经常暗暗提醒那些做法不当的管理人士纠正失误，同时又不会使他们感到不快。他从不强迫对方接受自己的观点，而是与对方共同寻求正确的解决问题方式。
花旗集团证券公司的前首席财务长芭芭拉?亚斯汀(Barbara Yastine)说，而且，对于信任的下属，普林斯常常让他们放手工作。在谈判过程中，他善于倾听对方观点，而且往往能够打破僵局。
去年9月，威尔选择普林斯担任集团旗下证券公司的首席执行长，令许多内部人士颇感惊讶。普林斯当时担任首席营运长。普林斯上任之后，前三个月重点解决监管方面的问题。纽约州司法部长斯皮策(Eliot Spitzer)称，普林斯谈判时像一位经验老到的律师。
然而，包括在所罗门美邦(Salomon Smith Barney)内部，一些人认为提拔普林斯出任集团首席执行长有些“怪异”，他根本不知道如何管理公司。一些员工认为，普林斯对威尔唯命是从。他疏远了一些银行家，因为他告诉他们，在深入研究一些业务问题之前，他首先要关注法律问题。
一些人甚至怀疑他能否担当其公司的重任，他担任首席执行长的时间不长，人们对此信心不足。
外界对普林斯知之不多。花旗集团过去常常谢绝对他的采访，而公司管理人士在他埋头工作的时候也避免让他在公众面前过多曝光。了解他的人说，普林斯不愿受到关注。
而且，并非只是投资者对普林斯的管理经验信心不足。一位消息人士说，今年早些时候，花旗集团的一名董事对威尔称，如果普林斯要出任集团高层管理人士，他最好在集团旗下所罗门美邦创造奇迹。
此后，普林斯给这家全球公司和投资银行带来了巨大变化。他在投资银行的副手罗伯特?德拉斯金(Robert Druskin)称，他们革除了“联席负责人”结构，理顺了领导关系，改组了银行管理主要公司客户关系的方式。普林斯后来谈到他当时的工作时称，重大重组已经完成。
