Now that Merrill Lynch has chosen John Thain to succeedretired Chairman and CEO Stanley O’Neal, Citigroup has lost out on one of itstop candidates to replace its own CEO, Charles O. Prince III, reports the NewYork Times.
Thain had previously said that he preferred running asmaller, more focused company like Merrill, as opposed to a disjointed onelike Citi, according to the New York Post.
As a result, the company is now left with just a few potential executives for the top spot. The lead candidates, according to the NYT: Vikram S. Pandit,former president of Morgan Stanley and currently leader of Citi’s investmentbanking and alternative investment units; Robert B. Willumstad, the company’sformer COO; Richard M. Kovacevich, former CEO and current chairman of WellsFargo; and Laurence D. Fink, CEO of BlackRock, who was originally the topcontender for Merrill’s vacant spot.