Wall Street's Toughest Turnaround

Jane Fraser is rethinking Citigroup and what it means to work at a megabank

- Jenny Surane

One of Citigroup Inc.’s more serendipitous real estate investments turned out to be the roof deck it built into its renovated downtown New York headquarters. With sweeping views of the Hudson River, it’s a thoroughly ventilated space that investment bankers and traders can slip away to for some socializing or after-hours cocktails. Not a bad perk for those back in the office in the midst of the lingering pandemic.

Kicking back at a patio table, Jane Fraser, Citigroup’s newly installed chief executive officer, is discussing one of her first wins on the job. Early in the summer she broke with bank CEOs who were cajoling workers back to their desks just as the delta variant of Covid-19 was spreading, leading to infections that forced them to revise their plans again. She’s taken a more relaxed approach, mostly letting employees decide when they want to return. While this sounds warm and fuzzy, it’s also a weapon for recruiting and retaining talent.

“I want to crush the competition,” Fraser says, sipping her coffee. The first woman CEO of a top U.S. bank makes it easy to forget she’s assumed one of the toughest jobs in global finance. Citigroup’s stock price is languishing below the levels it notched a bit more than three years ago, even as some of its U.S. peers’ shares sit near record highs. Fraser says she has a plan to reshape the bank, starting in its wealth management and global consumer businesses.