Video - Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit - Nov. 2008
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Pandit on Citigroup's bad loans...
Pandit doesn't mention his own hedge fund was sold to Citigroup back in 2006 for $800 million and 12 months later the fund was shuttered for a total loss.
In other words, taxpayers essentially paid for Citi's ridiculous purchase, and Pandit took home almost $200 million (his stake) at our expense.
And here are those links...
Rubin and Citigroup were eyeing Old Lane as an acquisition—not for high-yield returns, but for Pandit, a potential candidate to one day run Citi. In April 2007, Pandit sold Old Lane to Citi for $800 million, a price tag that boggled the minds of Wall Street observers. Pandit personally reaped a huge bounty, what amounted to $165 million in cash. With his windfall, he bought a ten-room, $17.9 million co-op apartment on Central Park West, the former home of the late actor Tony Randall. Rubin made little pretense about why Citi had spent so much money: He publicly called Pandit “a genius.”
http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/55035/index3.html
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In another blow to its already battered reputation, The WSJ says Citigroup plans to close Old Lane, a hedge fund it paid $800 million for less than a year ago.
Adding insult to injury, Old Lane was co-founded by Vikram Pandit, Citi's current CEO. Pandit personally netted $165 million from the transaction, which paved the way for his rise to the top of Citigroup after former CEO Chuck Prince was ousted.
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Story from earlier today...