Hey, did you know Citigroup is run by an idiot?

[charlie]

No, really. His story is another one of those weird performance-reward inversions that happen with numbing regularity in corporate boardrooms. It goes something like this --

A little over a year ago, Citigroup paid $800 million for a new hedge fund that managed a $4.5 billion portfolio. Within a year, the fund blew $3 billion of its assets and the remaining $1.5 billion belonged to either Citigroup or its employees. In other words, it no longer had outside investors and only existed due to investment by the guys who bought them in the first place. An expensive zombie.

So, Citigroup had no choice but to write off its investment...

...and promote the head of the hedge fund to Chief Executive of Citigroup.

Plenty more about this genius here:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/the-magazine/wall-st-watch/750851/citigroup-is-a-broken-organisation-but-its-new-boss-doesnt-have-a-plan-to-fix-it.thtml

Is it any wonder Citigroup is on a deathwatch? They gave this guy the reins to an ailing monster that's not only Too Big To Fail, but might be Too Big To Rescue. It's freaking mindblowing.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. In what respect.......Charlie?