Citi Names First Female CEO Of Wall Street Mega-Bank; Corbat Out

Citigroup is making Wall Street history.

Michael Corbatt, the long-serving CEO of Citigroup who led the bank through most of its post-crisis recovery, will retire in February, and in his stead, the bank has appointed Jane Fraser, who was named the company’s president last year, and who will now become the first female head of a major Wall Street bank. Fraser will join the bank’s board immediately, it said in a statement, but won’t officially take the reins until Corbatt leaves early next year,

Corbatt, who is probably best known to the public for his appearance at last year’s Congressional hearing with his fellow Wall Street leaders, said in a statement that “we completed our transformation from the financial crisis and emerged a simpler, safer and stronger institution,” Corbat said in the statement. “There is always more to do and I believe the time is right for my successor to lead Citi through this next stage of progress.”

Fraser has long been seen as a contender for the top job, according to reports published back in October 2019 when she was named president of the international banking giant.

The bank’s profitability soared during Corbatt’s reign, though that hasn’t always been reflected in the share price.

A 16-year veteran at Citi, Fraser first joined the bank to run client strategy in the investment bank, and had been running the bank’s Latin America business, including its Citibanamex division in Mexico, for the past few years before taking over the then-vacant president seat last year.

She has run Citi’s private bank, as well as its troubled mortgage business, and is credited internally with helping the bank recover after the financial crisis, when Citi had to take $45 billion in taxpayer money to survive.

Before joining Citi, Fraser was a consultant at McKinsey.