Charles Owen ("Chuck") Prince III (born January 13, 1950) is an American corporate executive, banker and lawyer. He is a former chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Citigroup.[1] He succeeded Sanford I. ("Sandy") Weill (born 1933), as the chief executive of the financial firm in 2002–2003, and succeeded him also four years later as the subsequent chairman of the board of directors in 2006.[1] On November 4, 2007, he himself retired from both his chairman and chief executive officer duties due to an unexpectedly poor third quarter revenues / profits performance, mainly due to CDO and MBS related losses, while still receiving a $38 million pay package.[2]
Prince left with an exit bonus valued at $12.5 million, in addition to the $68 million he received in stock and options he had accumulated during his career, together with a $1.7 million pension, an office, with car and driver for up to five years. During his tenure, the market value of Citigroup dropped by $64 billion.[9] He is still a consultant with Citigroup.
In July 2007, Prince famously said about Citigroup's continued commitment to leveraged buy-out deals, despite fears of reduced liquidity because of the occurring sub-prime meltdown: "As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance."[10]
In 2008, Fortune named Charles Prince as one of eight economic leaders "who didn't [see] the crisis coming", noting his overly optimistic statements in July 2007.[11] In January 2009, Guardian city editor Julia Finch identified him as one of twenty-five people who were at the heart of the financial meltdown.[12]
