Vikram Pandit’s ouster from Citi a ‘boardroom coup’

While Nagpur-born Vikram Pandit's resignation as Citigroup CEO on 16 October was ostensibly his own decision for 'personal reasons', it was generally believed that he was forced out; and a widely cited front-page report in today's New York Times gives dramatic details of the boardroom coup.

It says Citigroup chairman Michael O'Neill had worked for months on his ouster, despite the fact that Pandit (55) had successfully steered the group through some of its most trying times during the financial crisis and back to profitability.

O'Neill told a stunned Pandit in an "abrupt encounter" at the end of the day on 15 October that "the board has lost confidence in you", the NYT report said.

Pandit was offered a choice between three news releases, which said he had resigned effective immediately, that he would resign effectively at the end of the year or that he had been fired without cause. Pandit chose to resign immediately.

O'Neill wanted to replace Pandit with Michael L Corbat.

O'Neill, a candidate for the CEO job won by Pandit in 2007, was expected to put his stamp on Citi when he took over leadership of the board from Richard Parsons in April, and he reportedly wasted little time pushing for a management change.

Once he became chairman this year, O'Neill, 66, meticulously built a case for the chief executive's ouster, first meeting privately with less-satisfied board members and then drawing in others until Pandit had virtually no allies left.