Meet Michael Corbat: The new CEO of Citigroup

The new chief executive of Citigroup cut his teeth in investment banking at the preeminent bond house of the 1980s, Salomon Brothers, but his career in business began while a student at Harvard – where he was also much admired among the university's kitchen staff.

  Meet Michael Corbat: The new CEO of Citigroup
Michael Corbat, previously head of Citi's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was today announced as the successor to Vikram Pandit, who resigned unexpectedly.

  Corbat has spent his entire career at Citi and its subsidiaries and has worked on mandates including the bankruptcy of Orange County in California and sovereign debt restructurings in Latin America.
According to a 1982 article in the student newspaper the Harvard Crimson, Corbat began his career in business as an entrepreneur while still a student, launching MCI Enterprises, a manual labour firm, while studying economics at Harvard.

  He was also an all-Ivy offensive guard on the Harvard football team and was mooted for a career in either the National Football League or investment banking. He was particularly popular among the university's kitchen staff, according to the Harvard Crimson: “The ladies who serve and prepare the food at [Harvard college] Currier House all have crushes on senior Mike Corbat.”

  Corbat began his Wall Street career in 1983 at Salamon Brothers, where he joined the fixed-income sales department in the bank’s Atlanta office. Salomon was eventually absorbed by Travelers Group in 1998, becoming part of the Citi empire in same year.

  Corbat stayed with the group and rose through the ranks at the investment bank to take a senior role responsible for the origination, trading, and sale of emerging market debt. He later moved on to become a managing director and head of the commercial and corporate bank.

   In 2008, Corbat replaced Sallie Krawcheck as Citi’s wealth management head as part of a restructuring of that unit. In early 2009, he was moved to the role of interim head of Citi Holdings, a non-core group comprising of businesses that bank wanted to split from its “core” banking operations following a record $18.7bn loss in 2008.

   After being cemented as the official head, Corbat continued the process of shedding unwanted assets, until being appointed head of Emea at the start of 2012. In January, Corbat received $2.08m in Citi stock, according an SEC filing earlier this year.

  Corbat has also served on the board of directors of music publisher EMI, and as a trustee of the US Ski and Snowboard team Foundation, the British American Business and the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce.

  Corbat said in a statement today: "I am both humbled by the confidence the board has placed in me, and excited by the prospect of working closely with our management team and the board to take our company forward. Together with our talented employees around the world, I am confident that we can realise Citi’s full potential while serving clients and creating rewarding new opportunities for our employees.

  "I say this as a true believer in this company: I have spent my entire career here and have had the opportunity to see first-hand the dedication, talent, and innovative spirit that for 200 years has been the hallmark of how we serve our clients and the communities around the world in which we operate."