Prince One Step Closer To Leaving Citigroup

There is an update to why Citigroup’s (C-NYSE) Chuck Prince is one of the 10 CEO’s that need to go.

CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino just noted that Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (Citigroup’s largest holder) has reportedly put Chuck Prince effectively on notice that if he doesn’t bring in expenses and start a real turnaround that he will call for his resignation.  Charlie Gasparino said that Chuck Prince has to do something in a couple months or he is going to start calling for a new leadership team and the re was even the note of it being broken up.  Citigroup (C) shares have started recovering on this news, and there is no telling what the perceived valuations could be if Citigroup was really put on the block for a break-up.  It is unclear if that is real, but that would be a major development and one that doesn’t come around very frequently.

Jim Cramer already said he thinks that Prince will go by the end of the year.  Charlie Gasparino has also been covering this one quite well and just covered this last week.  Here is our 24/7 Wall St. article on why he needs to go from December 15, 2006.

Shares of Citigroup are down 0.3% at $54.56, but have been as low as $54.32 today.  The 52-week trading range is $44.81 to $57.00, and the reason the stock is closer to the highs of the year is because of the hope for change rather than on its fundamentals now.  Maybe a record label could get involved this will become the saga of "The Banker Formerly Known as Prince."

Jon C. Ogg
February 2, 2007