Sir Win Bischoff's appointment as chairman of Citigroup puts him among an elite of British executives who head America's largest companies. Go back far enough and you can find self-made titans such as Andrew Carnegie, a Scot, but today there are only a handful of others leading large US companies. One is Martin Sullivan at American International Group. Another is George Buckley, who runs 3M. (Neville Isdell, chief executive of Coca-Cola, was born south of Belfast and describes himself as a native of Ireland.)
German-born Sir Win is one of only a few chairmen of large US companies who do not hold the chief executive role, too. Coincidentally, Martin Sullivan is chief executive in a company that has split the two roles; AIG's chairman is Robert Willumstad, formerly of Citigroup. But it would be a stretch to see this as a sign of corporate governance good practice seeping into the US from the UK, where joint chairmen-chief executives are a frowned-upon rarity.
For perspective, 3M's Mr Buckley, who has spent most of his career in the US, wears the traditional tricorn hat that denotes true power wherever American corporate chieftains gather: he is chief executive, chairman and president of 3M.
See full Article (paid subscription required).
Posts
