One on One With Sandy Weill, Former Chairman of Citigroup
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
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JEFF YASTINE: In the high stakes world of big business and Wall Street, Sandy Weill is legendary for his special gift for deal-making. Now the man who built Citigroup into the world`s largest financial services company has written his memoir about his rise to the top and his 50-year career in business. It`s called "The Real Deal: My Life in Business and Philanthropy." Earlier today, Susie Gharib sat down with Weill at his New York office and asked him what was the key to his success.
SANFORD WEILL, FORMER CHAIRMAN, CITIGROUP: I learned a lot about the business that I`m in. I read everything there was to read about the financial business, so that helped me develop what people call instincts and when something would happen, I would have a feel about how we should react to that. And I always felt from a philosophical point of view, run a lean business in good times so you are in a better position to expand in bad times when other people can`t.
SUSIE GHARIB, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Of all your accomplishments, what are you most proud?
WEILL: I think most is my marriage to my wife who I really -- has influenced me as a person more than anybody could ever have influenced anybody and we`ve been married 51 years and it`s a wonderful partnership.
GHARIB: How about on the business side?
WEILL: Number one, when we were able to buy Shearson back from American Express back in 1993 and all of my friends felt like they were coming home, it made me feel incredibly good. Then in `98, of course, the crowning achievement was the merger of Travelers with Citicorp to form Citigroup which was a new kind of global financial service company really positioned for the future. And then also after I left American Express, learning that people cared about me for me as a person and not because of my position at that company.
GHARIB: Sandy, you say that you`re really proud of your legacy, but do you have -- is there any one thing you would have done differently?
WEILL: I`m sure that if I looked back at it there would be things that I would be do differently, but I`ve never dwelled on the past and we had problems from time to time but I always thought about how do we resolve that problem and move forward rather than thinking about problems. It`s not my personality.
GHARIB: Any regrets about the way you handled your prot‚g‚, Jamie Diamond, who`s now the CEO of JPMorgan Chase?
WEILL: Sure. I loved Jamie. Jamie was very loyal but over a period of time, we grew apart and we really weren`t communicating and I think finally with the merger with Citicorp, I mean, we were getting along so poorly that it just didn`t make sense for him or for me. I wish it would have been different. I`m sure we`re both plenty responsible for what happened. I`m sorry about what happened, but it happened. GHARIB: In your book, you write a lot about how you were treated by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the $300 million fine against Citigroup. Given that some time has passed, how do you feel today about Eliot Spitzer?
WEILL: I think Eliot Spitzer is going to be the next governor of New York. I`ve spoken to him many times over the last few years about issues with Carnegie Hall and other not for profits and he`s been very, very helpful and I`m looking forward to him being a great governor of the state of New York if he gets elected.
GHARIB: Since you stepped down as CEO, Citigroup`s stock has been virtually flat. What do you think it`s going to take to make that move higher?
WEILL: Citigroup has a tremendous position in the financial industry around the world and if we can hold terrorism down, globalization`s going to help this industry a lot. It`s going to help Citigroup a lot and I think we`ll see Citigroup`s earnings improve. The company is not too big to be managed. It has very small market shares and a lot of really growth parts of this world and I think you`ll see it perform and I think you`ll see people say that Chuck Prince is a very good manager.
GHARIB: Given that you built Citigroup through a long series of acquisitions, what do you think is the logical next step for the company?
WEILL: The company can`t really do big mergers when the stock is selling at a relatively low price. So I think the job is to perform with earnings. The stock will follow the performance and then the company will have all kinds of options.
GHARIB: Do you see like some big splashy acquisition in the future for Citigroup?
WEILL: I think Citigroup is pretty splashy without a big acquisition. I think Citigroup should be doing what it`s doing: paying attention to its business, growing its business and enhancing that with things that fit in and make sense.
GHARIB: You say in your book you`ve gotten great satisfaction from your work in philanthropy, from the chairman of Carnegie Hall to giving very generously to Cornell University. Do you picture yourself doing more big things in philanthropy like Bill Gates?
WEILL: Well, I don`t have $40 billion, but I really respect what Gates has done and now what Buffett has done in handing the money to the Gates Foundation. I run an organization on education called National Academy foundation that the Gates Foundation just gave some money to and we, this organization, can be part of helping reform high school in the United States, which is so needed and this is my life now and I hope my legacy is still to be written.
GHARIB: Sandy, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
WEILL: Susie, thank you. It`s great to see you again, as always.
