View source for Charles Prince

{{short description|American corporate executive and lawyer (born 1950)}}
{{other people|Charles Prince}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Charles Prince
|image = Prince25012007.jpg
|birth_name = Charles Owen Prince III
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|01|13}}
|birth_place = [[Lynwood, California]], U.S.
|occupation = Corporate Executive, Lawyer
|education = [[University of Southern California]] (BA, MA, JD)<br>[[Georgetown University]] (LLM)
|spouse = Margaret L. Wolff
}}
'''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]].<ref name="Forbes">{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=939380 |title=Forbes: Charles Prince Profile |access-date=2007-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208001044/http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=939380 |archive-date=February 8, 2007 }}</ref> He succeeded [[Sanford I. Weill|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.<ref name="Forbes"/> 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 [[collateralized debt obligation|CDO]] and [[mortgage-backed security|MBS]] related losses, while still receiving a $38 million pay package.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/17/executivesalaries-banking Wall Street Bankers in line for $70 billion payout]</ref>

==Early life and education==
Charles Owen Prince III was born in [[Lynwood, California]] on 13 January 1950 to Charles Owen Prince II and Mary Doyle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KB-2YS|title=FamilySearch.org|website=[[FamilySearch]] |access-date=2015-08-28}}</ref> Prince went to the [[University of Southern California]] and its [[USC Marshall School of Business]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], for his [[Bachelor of Arts]], [[Master of Arts]], and [[Juris Doctor]] (Doctor of Law) academic degrees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/best-business-schools-in-the-world-2015-12#32-university-of-southern-california--marshall-school-of-business-19|title=The 50 best business schools in the world|last1=Martin|date=14 December 2015|first1=Emmie|last2=Stanger|first2=Melissa|last3=Loudenback|first3=Tanza|website=Business Insider|access-date=13 April 2019}}</ref> He continued his education, going on to receive a [[Master of Laws]] degree from [[Georgetown University Law Center]] of [[Georgetown University]], in the [[Georgetown, Washington, D.C.|Georgetown]] section of [[Washington, D.C.]]

==Career==
Prince started his career as an attorney with the famous longtime [[U.S. Steel|United States Steel Corporation]] in 1975. Four years later in 1979, he joined the old [[Commercial Credit Company]], a predecessor to [[Citigroup]] that [[Sanford I. Weill|Sanford I. ("Sandy") Weill]] (born 1933), took over in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/wei0bio-1|title=Sanford Weill Profile|access-date=2007-10-04}}</ref> He was promoted in 1996 to executive vice president of the firm, which at this point, was known as the [[Travelers Group]].<ref name="CITI">{{cite web|url=http://www.citigroup.com/citigroup/profiles/prince/index.htm|title=Citigroup: Charles Prince|access-date=2007-10-04}}</ref> In 2000, shortly following the 1998 merger of the [[Travelers Group]] and [[Citicorp]], Prince was named [[chief administrative officer]] of the newly created firm, [[Citigroup]].<ref name="CITI"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june98/merger_4-7.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990424070526/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june98/merger_4-7.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 24, 1999|title=Financial Powerhouse|website=[[PBS]] |access-date=2007-10-04}}</ref> He was subsequently promoted to [[chief operating officer]] (COO) in 2001, to chairman and chief executive of Citi Markets and Banking in 2002, and finally to chairman and chief executive officer.<ref name="CITI"/>

===Credit crisis===
On Sunday, 4 November 2007, Prince resigned from his post as [[Chief Executive Officer|CEO]] of [[Citigroup]] due to the failing mortgage industry. He was replaced by [[Vikram Pandit]] (born 1957), as the next [[CEO]] of [[Citigroup]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/12/business/citi.php|access-date=2007-12-11|title=Shake up at Citigroup|publisher=[[International Herald Tribune]]}}</ref> and by former [[U.S. Secretary of the Treasury]] in the 42nd [[President of the United States|President]] [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton administration]] of [[Robert Rubin]] (born 1938, served as Treasury Secretary 1993-2001), as its new chairman of the board of directors.

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.<ref>[http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/charles_o_iii_prince/index.html Profile of Prince, ''The New York Times'' 9 April 2010]</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/citi-chief-on-buyout-loans-were-still-dancing/ | work=The New York Times | title=Citi Chief on Buyouts: 'We're Still Dancing' | date=2007-07-10}}</ref>

In 2008, [[Fortune (magazine)|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.<ref>Katie Benner and Christopher Tkaczyk: [https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0808/gallery.whosawitcoming.fortune/14.html 8 who saw the crisis coming ...and 8 who didn't - The Dancer] Fortune/[[CNNMoney.com]], August 2008</ref> In January 2009, [[The Guardian|Guardian]] city editor Julia Finch identified him as one of twenty-five people who were at the heart of the financial meltdown.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Twenty-five people at the heart of the meltdown | first=Julia | last=Finch | date=2009-01-26 | access-date=2010-04-28}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Prince is currently married to Margaret L. Wolff.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E2D7133AF932A1575AC0A9659C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fP%2fPrince%2c%20Charles%20O%2e%20III|title=WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Margaret Wolff, Charles Prince|access-date=2007-10-06 | work=The New York Times | date=2003-09-21}}</ref> The couple was wed on September 20, 2003, at [[The Pierre Hotel]] in [[New York City]].<ref name="NYT"/> Semi-retired Judge [[Robert W. Sweet]] presided over the ceremonies.<ref name="NYT"/>

==Affiliations==
Prince serves in the influential trade group the [[Financial Services Forum]], as well as a member of the [[Council of Foreign Relations]], the [[Business Roundtable]], and several other organizations.<ref name="Forbes"/> Along with his directorship on the Citigroup board, Prince has served as a member of [[Johnson & Johnson]]'s board since February 13, 2006.<ref name="BW">{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=391733&symbol=C|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015114343/http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=391733&symbol=C|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 15, 2007|title=Business Week: Charles Prince|access-date=2007-10-05}}</ref>

He also serves as a trustee for several education institutions including the [[Weill Medical College]] (of [[Cornell University]], in [[Ithaca, New York]]), but located at [[Manhattan]] of [[New York City]], the [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Teachers College]] of [[Columbia University]], and [[The Juilliard School]] (of music).

Prince formerly was a Senior Counselor to the [[Albright Stonebridge Group]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.albrightstonebridge.com/team/charles-prince/|title=Allbright Stonebridge Group Bio|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501120601/http://www.albrightstonebridge.com/team/charles-prince/|archive-date=2011-05-01}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Robert Rubin]]
* [[Gary Crittenden]]
* [[Subprime mortgage crisis]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/charles_o_iii_prince/index.html Charles Owen Prince III] at ''[[The New York Times]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060825070931/http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=939380 Charles Owen Prince III] at [[Forbes]]
* {{C-SPAN|54919}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{succession box |
  before=[[Sanford I. Weill]] |
  title=[[Citigroup|Citigroup CEO]] |
  years=2003–2007 |
  after=[[Win Bischoff]]
}}
{{succession box |
  before=[[Sanford I. Weill]] |
  title=[[List of Chief Executives of Citigroup|Chairman of Citigroup]] |
  years=2006–2007 |
  after=[[Robert Rubin]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Citigroup}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Charles}}
[[Category:People from Lynwood, California]]
[[Category:American chief executives of financial services companies]]
[[Category:Citigroup employees]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni]]
[[Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni]]
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American chief operating officers]]
[[Category:USC Gould School of Law alumni]]