So long, Dick!
Citigroup Chairman Dick Parsons plans on stepping down from the banking giant’s board in April, ending his 16-year stint as a director. Parsons opted not to run for re-election ahead of Citi’s annual shareholder meeting set for April 17 in Dallas.
Citi will nominate current director Michael O’Neill, the former CEO of the Bank of Hawaii, as chairman.
The 63-year-old former Time Warner chief helped lead the bank through the financial meltdown and the political fallout that followed.
Parsons stepped up as chairman after Citi accepted a $45 billion lifeline from Uncle Sam as it teetered on the brink of collapse.
Boasting a massive Rolodex, Parsons is known for his ability to leverage his contacts in Washington and on Wall Street during tough times. Before Citi, Parsons ran another bank, Dime Bancorp. Inside the Beltway, he was a senior White House aide to President Gerald Ford.
Nevertheless, his critics say he was part of a management team — along with former CEO Sandy Weill and ex-chairman Robert Rubin — that was asleep at the switch while the bank gorged on toxic subprime mortgages.
One of Parson’s biggest critics, outspoken bank analyst Mike Mayo, has been pushing for his resignation for weeks.
“This is about the bank holding somebody accountable for their lack of management,” Mayo said.
A pair of other directors — Tim Collins, head of private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, and Alain Belda managing director of another PE firm Warburg Pincus — also are planning on vacating their board seats.
Sources said that Parsons intends to focus on other interests, including overseeing a vineyard he owns in Italy and a restaurant in Harlem.
