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E-Trade (Nasdaq:ETFC) Hires Former Citigroup (NYSE:C) Executive for CEO, No Longer for Sale


Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010


The announcement by E-Trade (Nasdaq:ETFC)that they've hired a new chief executive officer also signaled the company has taken itself off the market and is no longer for sale.

Former Citigroup (NYSE:C) executive Steven Freilberg was hired to take the reins of E-Trade, a 30-year veteran at the company. Freilberg left Citigroup in January 2009 because he was placed in charge of Citi Holdings, the temporary unit of the company used to divest of some of its holdings. It was probably the temporary status of the unit which was the reason for leaving.

Some with knowledge of the inside process said Freilberg wasn't the top choice for the job, as there had been a candidate already chosen by the board, but had withdrawn their name in February.

Problems and delays in finding a suitable and willing person to fill the position had generated rumors for some time that E-Trade was attempting to sell itself; rumors which have never been substantiated, but could have been true.

Of course the problem for E-Trade is they couldn't say no one wanted the top job, if that was the case, as it would have driven away anybody that was seriously considering taking it. So if that was the case, they had to let the rumors of attempting to sell themselves ride for the time being.

That doesn't mean in fact they weren't for sale, but that generated the problem the company had with a CEO, which nobody wanted to acquire them, again, if that's what the scenario actually was.

Either way, the problems at E-Trade are immense, and whether attracting a CEO or a potential suitor, those problems obviously stood in the way of getting the job done quickly. E-Trade hasn't had a profitable quarter since 2007.

Freilberg will officially start at E-Trade on April 1.



Article by Gary B

The views expressed are the subjective opinion of the article's author and not of FinancialAdvisory.com



Tags: citigroup , e-trade