Citi Pandit's stars shine; annual hike of $1.75 mn

New York, Jan 22: Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit has a lot to be proud of and has weathered the storm with considerable panache. The man is surely reaping the benefits of his hard work and perseverance. He has managed to get a raise of $1,749,999 due to the ecouraging growth Citigroup has managed to achieve after recession and the bailout by the US government.

Vikram Pandit had assumed the CEO hat when Citigroup was going through some tumultuous times. He had pledged in 2009 to take home an annual salary of $1 until the Citigroup gets back to its feet. After gaining encouraging results in the last couple of quarters, the board gave Vikram his much needed annual hike of $1.75 million.

The hike though huge is meager compared to the insane compensation granted to other high-profile CEOs. "The worst is over for Citigroup - certainly there was a point in which people thought it would have to be broken up," Richard Lipstein, managing director at Boyden Global Executive Search has been quoted as saying. "The days of the $1-a-year Wall Street CEO are over," he added.

Vikram Pandit can be solely credited to turning the US bank around and for its rising-from-the-ashes phenomenon. He put in ideas like selling off assets, cutting staff, focusing on its core businesses, including investment banking and retail banking for affluent customers globally.

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