On 11 December 2007, Pandit was named the new CEO of Citigroup, replacing interim-CEO Sir Winfried Bischoff. Pandit was strongly supported by then interim chairman of Citigroup Robert Rubin,^[22] the effective successor to Chuck Prince. Prince had resigned as chairman and CEO of Citigroup in November 2007, due to unexpectedly poor third-quarter performance, mainly due to CDO- and MBS-related losses.

On 11 February 2009, Pandit testified to Congress that he had declared to his board of directors, "My salary should be $1 per year with no bonus until we return to profitability."^[23][24][25] He also struck an apologetic tone for letting the bank consider completing the purchase of a private jet plane after receiving some $45 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.^[26] His total 2009 compensation was $128,751, with a base salary of $125,001 and other compensation of $3,750.^[27]

In January 2011, after working for two years for a salary of $1 a year, his annual base was raised to $1.75 million for the progress Citi made under Vikram’s leadership.^[27][28][29] After posting five consecutive quarterly profits, Citigroup in May 2011, announced $23.2m retention award to Pandit making him one of the highest paid CEOs.^[30][31] In April 2012, shareholders voted against increasing his pay to $15 million. About 55% of the votes cast were against the compensation package.^[32]

His co-chairing of Davos 2012 was criticized,^[33] with Mike Mayo, an analyst with Crédit Agricole in New York remarking: "What kind of signal does that send, that the bank that was the worst-performing in our country over the last decade and whose stock price is still down significantly since he took over, is the ambassador for our financial industry?"^[34] At Davos 2012, Pandit said that Citigroup was going "back to the basics of banking" in response to public anger about the financial crisis, and argued that, "The single biggest issue facing us is the question of jobs," giving an estimate of 400 million jobs in the next 10 years.^[35]

Resignation[edit]

On 16 October 2012, Pandit unexpectedly resigned as Citigroup CEO.^[7] Michael Corbat, previously Citigroup's CEO of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, was named as his replacement.^[36] While Pandit and the company maintain that he resigned, Bloomberg News cited anonymous board sources indicating that Pandit was forced out by the board after eroding investor confidence and damaging company relations with regulators over an extended period.^[37] The New York Times later identified Chairman Michael E. O'Neill as the driving force behind a months-long secret effort to oust Pandit, which culminated in a surprise ultimatum to Pandit stating that he must resign immediately, resign at the end of the year, or be fired.^[38] His resignation followed multiple payouts to investors during ongoing fraud allegations.^[39][40][41]

Compensation[edit]

While CEO of Citigroup in 2007, Vikram S. Pandit earned an annualized compensation of $3,164,320, which included a base salary of $250,000, stocks granted of $2,914,320, and options granted of $0.^[27] In 2008, he earned a total compensation of $38,237,437, which included a base salary of $958,333, stocks granted of $28,830,000, and options granted of $8,432,911. However, after adjusting for Citigroup’s sunken share price, the package was worth just a few million dollars.^[29] Pandit did receive $165 million for his hedge fund which was purchased by Citi in 2007.^[42] The fund has since been shuttered. In 2012, Citigroup shareholders voted in favor of a non-binding resolution to reject a $15 million pay package for Pandit. In November 2012, Pandit was paid about $6.7 million.^[43]

Post-Citigroup[edit]

It was reported in May 2013 that Pandit and Hari Aiyar, another Indian executive, were acquiring a 3 percent equity stake in JM Financial and launching a $100 million fund to invest in distressed assets.^[44] It was reported in May 2016 that Pandit and Atairos Group created a new operating company, The Orogen Group, to invest in financial services companies with backing from Comcast Corporation^[45]

Board memberships and hono