Bair Says Pandit Kept Citigroup Job With Geithner Support

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner resisted Sheila Bair’s efforts to replace Vikram Pandit as chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc. in early 2009, according to her memoir of the financial crisis.

Pandit was “handpicked” to be CEO by former Citigroup Chairman and ex-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who is Geithner’s “mentor and hero,” Bair wrote in “Bull by the Horns.” That bond was probably the reason why Geithner warded off her attempts to replace Pandit, she said.