Michael Louis "Mike" Corbat (born May 2, 1960) is an American banker who served as the
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
of Citigroup from 2012 to 2021. His 2012 welcome from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' described him as a "Jack-of-All-Trades".
Early life and education
Born in
Bristol, Connecticut
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, th ...
, Corbat graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1983 with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
, where he also played
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...
for the school's football team. He was two-time all
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
and was selected as first team
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...
Corbat worked at Citi or its predecessor companies for his entire career, starting with
Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and the most profitable firm on Wall Street durin ...
.
He served as Head of Citi's Global Corporate Bank and Global Commercial Bank and CEO of Citi's Global Wealth Management (consisting of Smith Barney and the Citi Private Bank). As CEO of Citi Holdings, he was responsible for and led the divestiture of a portfolio of non-core business and assets following the
financial crisis of 2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
and Citi's participation in the
Troubled Asset Relief Program
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President ...
(TARP).
In 2011, he was named CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa (
EMEA
EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...
) where he oversaw all Citi operations in the region. In October 2012, Mike Corbat was appointed CEO of Citi after Vikram Pandit's resignation.
In September 2020, Citigroup announced Corbat's retirement, to be effective in February 2021. Jane Fraser was appointed to assume as CEO after Corbat, becoming the First Female CEO of a Top-Tier Investment Bank.
Issues addressed
In 2018 ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote that "where Mr. Corbat can steer Citigroup directly, he is doing so." The issues he addressed included:
* Gender pay gap which he both defended, proclaiming that it inspires entry-level employee to work harder and advance, and concurrently described as "a challenge we need to tackle together."
* Bricks and Clicks, which '' Fortune Magazine'' described as "a broad physical branch network that caters to Baby Boomers and a robust online (and mobile) presence for Generation X and Millennials."
Leaving Citi
Corbat's annual salary was cut, as he was on his way out.
Personal life
Corbat is an enthusiastic fly fisherman, golfer and downhill skier who self-describes as "an avid outdoorsman and responsible gun owner." He serves on the Citigroup Board of Directors, the EMI Board of Directors, BritishAmerican Business Board of Directors and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation Board of Trustees. He has a wife : Donna; as well as two children: Brian and Allison.