Citigroup Omit Thain From Exec Shortlist

by Stewart Douglas

Story link: Citigroup Omit Thain From Exec Shortlist

Citigroup have today surprised market analysts by omitting the candidacy of new chief executive-favourite John Thain from its preliminary apointment leet, despite the fact that he had been widely tipped to succeed to the position.

The announcement comes following the initial stages of the search for a successor to recently retired Chuck Prince, who was all but forced from office in light of the company’s over exposure to sub-prime bad debts and devaluations in its asset holdings.

John Thain, presently chief executive of the NYSE Euronext exchange was widely favoured by insiders and market analysts to be appointed to the multi-million dollar top job at Citi, despite the fact that has was not named amongst the potential candidates released by the company today.

The list was composed of numerous potential appointments largely from within the group at present, but also included a number of external potential candidates including Bob Willumstad.  It is thought however that there is a possibility that Mr Thain could be added to the list at some later stage in the process.

John Thain was thought to be a contender for the position given his strong background in senior management amongst top investment firms and financial services.  Aside from his current position with the NYSE Euronext exchange in Amsterdam, Thain has also held the position of president of rival equity group Goldman Sachs, and is highly regarded in the industry as a competent manager.

However insiders from Citi have suggested that Thain’s lack of experience in retail business sectors would make him a less than desirable appointment, despite his previous good record in investment and finance businesses.

The news comes amidst a further reshuffle at the top level of Citi’s management structure in light of Mr Prince’s departure several weeks ago.  Whilst the company did report heavy losses over the last period, it has been thought that overall the group is still sufficiently strong to suppress the effects of its bad debt exposure.

It remains to be seen whether Mr Thain will indeed be added into contention later down the line, or whether he will be continue to be excluded from potential candidacy.