• The New York Times, Friday, May 9, 2008 10:15 AM

Citigroup CEO Vikram S. Pandit is intent on keeping Citigroup together rather than carving up the financial conglomerate, as some investors are urging. But in a break from the financial supermarket model championed by Sanford I. Weill--who built Citigroup through acquisitions in the late 1990s--Pandit plans to focus on businesses and regions where Citigroup can generate the fattest returns.

At the same time, Pandit vows to "break apart the culture" and demand better performance. To do so, he has brought in executives and overhauled compensation so his managers have incentives to focus on what is best for the entire company, rather than their own corner of it. He will lay out his vision today in his first major presentation to investors and Wall Street analysts.

Since becoming CEO in December, Pandit has been clearing out the corporate attic of weak businesses and unloading worrisome assets at bargain-basement prices. He's not done yet. After months of false starts, Citigroup is now trying to sell Primerica Financial, a life insurance and mutual fund company, according to sources. He is also looking to sell its back-office outsourcing unit in India and its Smith Barney brokerage firm in Australia.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »