After eight years as CEO of Citigroup, Michael Corbat will be succeeded by Jane Fraser, who will be the first female CEO of this major Wall Street bank.
Jane Fraser has been appointed to become the new Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) CEO, becoming the first-ever female CEO of a Wall Street bank. In February 2021, Michael Corbat will retire after his thirty-seven-year service at the bank.
Per a Bloomberg report, Fraser will become the first female CEO of a megabank in the U.S., upon Corbat’s retirement,. Fraser who is currently Citi’s president and CEO of Global Consuming Banking has been with the company for 16 years. Also, the incoming CEO has been in her current roles since last year.
Citigroup First-Ever Female CEO
Prior to the latest appointment, Fraser has held a number of positions over the years. In 2019, she was considered for the position of the CEO of Wells Fargo. However, former JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) executive Charlie Scharf was eventually appointed.
Before then, Fraser has been in charge of Citigroup’s Latin America business and its Citibanamex division- the second-largest bank in Mexico. Also, from 2013-2015, she was the CEO of the U.S. consumer and commercial banking, and CitiMortgage.
In addition, Fraser served as Citi’s global head of Strategy and Mergers & Acquisition from 2007-2009.Her job also caters to retail banking and wealth management, credit cards, mortgages, and the associated operations and Technology.
Before joining Citigroup in the Corporate and Investment Banking division in 2004, Fraser was a partner at McKinsey & Co.
Regarding her current role as the CEO of Global Consumer Banking, Citigroup will announce a successor in the coming weeks.
Reactions to This Appointment
Corbat commented on the appointment of the first Citigroup first female CEO:
“I have worked with Jane for many years and am proud to have her succeed me. With her leadership, experience and values, I know she will make an outstanding CEO.”
In his eight years of service as the CEO, Corbat helped to rebound the company’s 2008 financial crisis. During his tenure which started in 2012, Citigroup shares jumped 42%.
“I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished in the past eight years. We completed our transformation from the financial crisis and emerged a simpler, safer and stronger Institution. Across our businesses, we made investments in products where we saw opportunities and Citi has regained its place as a leader in banking.“
Speaking further, the outgoing CEO said that the financial performance of the company improved significantly during his tenure before the pandemic started. However, over the past year, shares of Citigroup have been declining. Apart from its 26.26% loss in the last twelve months, Citi has also plunged over 36% in 2020. Although the company jumped 5.61% in the last three months, it lost 3.37% in the past month. Also, Citi fell nearly 1% in the last five days.
He added that between 2012 and 2019, net income for the megabank increased from $7 billion to nearly $20 billion. Referring to Return on Tangible Common Equity, Corbat said there is an increase from 5% to more than 12%.
Furthermore, Corbat revealed that over the last six years, Citigroup has returned almost $80 billion in capital to shareholders.
The chairman of the board of directors John Dugan also expressed his confidence in Fraser as the new CEO. He referred to her vast experience across Citigroup’s businesses and regions and is sure she will serve the company excellently.
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