Charles Prince
Encyclopedia
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
(CEO) and chairman of Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
. He succeeded Sandy Weill as the CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the firm in 2003, and as the Chairman of the Board in 2006. On November 4, 2007 he retired from both his CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
and chairman duties due to unexpectedly poor 3rd quarter performance, mainly due to CDO
Collateralized debt obligation
Collateralized debt obligations are a type of structured asset-backed security with multiple "tranches" that are issued by special purpose entities and collateralized by debt obligations including bonds and loans. Each tranche offers a varying degree of risk and return so as to meet investor demand...
and MBS
Mortgage-backed security
A mortgage-backed security is an asset-backed security that represents a claim on the cash flows from mortgage loans through a process known as securitization.-Securitization:...
related losses, while still receiving a $38m pay package.
History
Charles O. Prince III, was born in Lynwood, CaliforniaLynwood, California
Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 69,772, down from 69,845 at the 2000 census. Lynwood is located near South Gate and Compton in the southern portion of the Los Angeles Basin. Incorporated in...
on 13 January 1950. Prince went to the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
for his Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
, Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
, and Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
. He continued his education going on to receive a Master of Law degree from Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
.
The son of a plasterer and a housewife, Prince started his career as an attorney with U.S. Steel Corp
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
in 1975. In 1979, he joined Commercial Credit Company, a predecessor to Citigroup that Sandy Weill took over in 1986. He was promoted in 1996 to Executive Vice President of the firm, which by this point was known as the Travelers Group, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup. In 2000, shortly following the 1998 merger of Travelers and Citigroup, Prince was named Chief Administrative Officer
Chief administrative officer
A chief administrative officer is responsible for administrative management of private, public or governmental corporations. The CAO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, managing daily operations and usually reporting directly to the chief executive officer. In some companies,...
of the newly created firm, Citigroup. He was subsequently promoted to Chief Operating Officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
in 2001, to CEO and Chairman of Citi Markets and Banking in 2002, and finally to CEO and Chairman.
Personal life
Prince is currently married to Margaret L. Wolff. The couple was wed on September 20, 2003 at The Pierre HotelThe Pierre Hotel
The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 East 61st Street at the intersection of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. The hotel opened in 1930, and is currently owned by Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces of India...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Semi-retired Judge Robert W. Sweet
Robert W. Sweet
Robert Workman Sweet is an American jurist and currently a senior United States federal judge serving on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.-Early life and career:...
presided over the ceremonies.
Affiliations
Prince is currently a Senior Counselor to Albright Stonebridge GroupAlbright Stonebridge Group
The Albright Stonebridge Group is a global strategy company led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albrightand former National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, and former Senator Warren Rudman...
and serves in the influential trade group the Financial Services Forum
Financial Services Forum
The Financial Services Forum is a non-partisan financial and economic policy organization comprising the CEOs of 20 of the largest and most diversified financial services institutions doing business in the United States...
, as well as a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, the Business Roundtable
Business Roundtable
The Business Roundtable is a politically conservative group of chief executive officers of major U.S. corporations formed to promote pro-business public policy.-History:...
, and several other organizations. Along with his directorship on the Citigroup board, Prince has served as a member of Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
's board since February 13, 2006. He also serves as a trustee for several education institutions including Weill Medical College, Teachers College
Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...
, and The Juilliard School.
Credit crisis
On Sunday, 4 November 2007, Prince resigned from his post as CEOChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
due to the failing mortgage industry. He was replaced by Vikram Pandit
Vikram Pandit
Vikram S. Pandit is an Indian-born American business executive. He is the current CEO of Citigroup.-Early life:Vikram Pandit was born in Nagpur, India to an affluent Marathi family . His father, S B Pandit was an executive director at Sarabhai Chemicals in Baroda. He completed his schooling at the...
as the current CEO of Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
, and by Robert Rubin as its Chairman.
Prince left with vested stock holdings valued at USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
$94 million and the roughly $53.1 million salary he received over the four years in the position. He also received a pension of $1.74 million and another one million stock options
Employee stock option
An employee stock option is a call option on the common stock of a company, issued as a form of non-cash compensation. Restrictions on the option attempt to align the holder's interest with those of the business shareholders. If the company's stock rises, holders of options generally experience a...
. He is still a consultant with Citigroup.
In 2008, Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
named Charles Prince as one of eight economic leaders "who didn't [see] the crisis coming", noting his overly optimistic statements in July 2007. In January 2009 Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
City editor Julia Finch identified him as one of twenty five people who were at the heart of the financial meltdown.
Prince famously said about his career: "As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance."
External links
See also
- Robert RubinRobert RubinRobert Edward Rubin served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during both the first and second Clinton administrations. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs eventually serving as a member of the Board, and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992...
- Gary CrittendenGary CrittendenGary L. Crittenden is an American financial manager formerly employed as the chairman of Citi Holdings, a unit of Citigroup, and serving on the boards of Staples Inc., Ryerson, Inc., TJX Companies, and Utah Capital Investment Corp...
- Subprime mortgage crisisSubprime mortgage crisisThe U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....