Pandit says he wouldn't do anything different

Vikram Pandit, who stepped down on Wednesday as Citigroup Inc’s chief executive officer, said he doesn’t regret any decisions from his tenure running the bank.

“It’s hard to come up with things we should have done differently,” said Pandit, 55, in an off-camera interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Lunch Money,” recalling how he navigated the New York-based bank through the credit crisis. “I was first out of the box to raise capital. I feel very good about the decisions that we’ve made.”

Pandit said he decided yesterday to leave after turning the company around. He spoke with Citigroup Chairman Michael O’Neill, 65, and didn’t want to linger and second-guess his replacement as CEO, Michael Corbat, 52.

PANDIT’S PAYSLIP
Vikram S Pandit worked as Citigroup's chief executive for just under five years. Here is a look at his compensation during this period, according to an analysis research firm Equilar performed for New York Times DealBook

• $56.4mn Pandit's total direct compensation, including salary, bonus payouts, other benefits and the grant date value of equity awards. Also includes equity award options that he did not exercise
   
• $13.5mn His total take-home pay, which includes salary, bonuses, benefits and the value of exercised stock options and vested stock
   
• $11.9mn Current stock price for shares that vested during Pandit's tenure, instead of the original price on the days the stock was granted
   
• $165mn Biggest payout Pandit received from Citi when the bank bought
  Old Lane Partners, the hedge fund he co-founded after leaving Morgan Stanley
   
• $1 Pandit's base salary in 2009 and 2010, when he pledged to earn that token amount until he brought the firm back to profitability.
  According to Equilar, Pandit hasn't sold any shares during his time at Citi, at least through 2011

 

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Pandit said. “It was my decision. I made it talking to Mr O’Neill, and we did it understanding that the company was ready.”

No golden parachute?

It appears as if the now-former chief executive will not receive a golden parachute.

Pandit did not have an employment agreement that guarantees such a payout in case of termination, according to an analysis by Disclosure Matters.

Other, more limited agreements also lack the kinds of provisions that are often used to guarantee payouts for exiting executives.

A "key employee" profit-sharing agreement with Pandit filed in May 2011 says he generally "shall not be entitled to any payments pursuant to the plan" if his employment terminates before May 2013, except in the case of death or disability. Similarly, option and stock grants made last year suggested that Pandit would forfeit most of those awards on departure.

When Citi's board let shareholders provide their input on giving Pandit a $15-million payout this spring, they voted resoundingly against the proposed package. It was the first stinging rebuke against a major Wall Street chief's compensation. That vote came soon after the Federal Reserve turned down Citigroup's plans to pay out capital to shareholders, a stinging indication that regulators still weren't comfortable with the bank.

Since those expressions of discontent, Citigroup's shares are sharply higher, though they are still down 89 per cent since Pandit took over in December 2007. The stock trades at a pitiful valuation, reflecting two dominant views in the markets: Citigroup's transformation has a long way to go, and its financial statements can be opaque.