New York, Oct 03: Citigroup Inc. chairman Sanford I. Weill has sold a quarter of the shares he holds in the bank for nearly dollar 264 million, the bank announced. Citigroup purchased the 5.6 million common shares, in an exception to its policy against purchasing shares from employees, the announcement said yesterday.
The sale came a day after Weill relinquished the title of chief executive to his designated successor, Charles O. Prince. Although he's no longer CEO, Weill will remain chairman of the board of Citigroup until the 2006 annual meeting. He is 70. The bank said Weill sold the shares "in order to facilitate his financial planning in light of his new stage". It did not elaborate.
Citigroup, America's largest financial institution, said the shares were purchased at a price of dollar 47.14, "which was determined to be the lower of the day's volume weighted average price and the day's closing price".
"Weill will continue to hold approximately 16.8 million shares for as long as he remains a Citigroup board member," the statement said. Weill earlier had pledged to retain 75 per cent of his Citigroup shares as long as he remains on the board.
The bank's statement noted that buying shares from an employee was an exception to company policy and was approved by the board. The move kept an unusually block of shares from hitting the market and, perhaps, depressing the bank's share price. Bureau Report