Taking over Citi was like taking over the Titanic

... says Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citigroup Inc who recently addressed America’s future financial leaders to impart some lessons he has learned. He said that over the last two years, he has also received great education, faced crises and made decisions where most were very difficult, during his talk to University of Pennsylvania ’s Wharton School ’s graduating business students. He said he had to live the American economy and global economics in order to learn more. He told the students that the learning experience was not all fun.

The address at Wharton was part of Pandit’s long and thorough analysis after he assumed his Citigroup post in 2007. He almost gave up on the job during the worst of the crisis. In his address, Pandit likened his Citigroup post to becoming captain of the Titanic after the ship hit the iceberg. Citigroup had about $ 45 billion in US bailout funds in 2008-09. The government became a shareholder in December. From then on though, the bank reported its first full-year profit since 2007 with the last of the US government’s common share stake drop.

According to him, Citi is now profitable and has been for five straight quarters. “We are a much leaner company, one completely focused on serving clients. We have shed nearly $ 500 billion in assets without compromising our global presence in 101 countries. And we repaid, with gratitude, the taxpayers in full—earning them a $12 billion profit on their investment.”

Words of wisdom: The Pandit way
While the financial services industry is much larger today, I believe it looks more like the industry of 1983 than that of 2008. It is more focused on its core strengths and serving clients. In many ways, we are getting back to that same culture that excited me in 1983. And we are instilling that culture every day at Citi.

The wider world, on the other hand, is completely different. When I started, the domestic market was everything. Japan and Western Europe mattered, too. But nowhere else. It was a hub-and-spoke world and New York was the ultimate hub. Today, we live in a networked world. All roads no longer lead to a few key hubs. They lead everywhere. Emerging economies can trade with each other without ever having a single banker, CEO, or government official set foot in New York—and do quite well. So much of the action is happening away from the old centers.

Your careers will be defined by massive trade and capital flows within emerging markets, explosive growth in new consumer blocs as the global middle class grows, and increasing digitization—things few if any of us were thinking about in 1983. Ideas find support from capital more quickly than ever, which makes entrepreneurship more accessible than ever. More ideas to choose from mean more complexity … and more opportunities to choose wrongly.

It is a more exciting world—but also more complex. I had to adapt to it over the course of a career. You have grown up with it. That gives you an advantage. Use it wisely.

The impact
After the ceremony, students’ reaction to Pandit was varied but they said he is not responsible for the financial crisis. In his efforts to lead the bank to slow recovery, Pandit has benefited with his salary to increase to $ 1.75 million this year. He is also observed to be so visible over the last few months. He has been making speeches at events from UJA-Federation of New York charity fund-raiser to a conference of prominent Chinese-American citizens.