Citi’s 2024 hiring of Vis Raghavan as head of banking — sold to shareholders as a coup with a $52mn pay package needed to “incentivise” him to leave JPMorgan — was in fact a weekend rescue: just three days earlier, JPMorgan had told the investment banker he had no long-term future at the bank, after years of complaints about his conduct.
Raghavan, now seen as a contender to succeed CEO Jane Fraser, spent 23 years at JPMorgan and helped take it to the top of European league tables. But he was the subject of two internal reviews over his leadership style, had a close family member hired in breach of usual policy, and at one point had his pay cut over behavioural problems. Three people left over working with him; concerns escalated to CEO Jamie Dimon as far back as 2021. After a 2024 reshuffle that put Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh in charge of investment banking and trading, JPMorgan concluded his position was untenable.
At Citi, Raghavan has delivered: the banking division reported record revenues in 2025, shares trade at 17-year highs, and he has lured a string of bankers from JPMorgan and Goldman. But Q1 2026 investment-banking gains were more muted than peers’, and former colleagues remain divided on whether he has truly mellowed. Citi called the FT’s account “frivolous, tabloid coverage built on anonymous smears”. Source: Financial Times, 29 April 2026, Joshua Franklin, Julie Steinberg, Ortenca Aliaj and Akila Quinio.