After his town-hall meeting where 53,000 job cuts were announced, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit sent out this company-wide memo in which he brags about the accomplishments of the company. Read on for the full text of the memo, and learn how Citi will be “the long term winner in the industry…”

From: vikrampandit@citi.com
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:18 AM
To: vikrampandit@citi.com
Subject: Today’s Town Hall

Dear Citi Colleagues,

A few minutes ago I concluded a Town Hall meeting in New York. I shared with you what I shared with the Senior Leadership Committee last week, and you’ll be hearing more about it from the leaders of your organizations in the coming days.

There are a few points that I would like to reiterate:

* All of you have done an outstanding job in the last 11 months - we are in a far stronger position going into 2009 than we were going into 2008. And we are even better positioned for 2010.

* Our underlying business remains strong and revenues have been stable.

* We have shrunk our balance sheet and sold businesses consistent with our strategy. We will continue with these efforts.

* We have been very successful at bringing our expenses down. 2009 expenses are expected to be between $50 and $52 billion, down almost 20 percent from peak levels. We expect headcount to be down 20 percent in the near term from the peak of 375,000 at year-end 2007.

* We have significantly reduced our risky assets while putting the company in a very strong capital position. Our new risk management organization is much stronger.

* We have spent the last year “getting fit,” are more streamlined, and are in a strong competitive position to take advantage of future opportunities. We will be the long-term winner in the industry.

I would encourage you to view the presentation at www.citigroup.net/townhall.

The coming year could be a difficult one for our clients and customers. Citi needs you to maintain your focus on helping them succeed because now is the time when lasting loyalty is earned.

And in return you can have confidence that I and the Citi leadership team will stay focused on strengthening Citi and positioning all of us to benefit when conditions inevitably improve.

Vikram

[Dealbreaker] Vikram Pandit: “We will be the long-term winner in the industry”