Does Citi need Hurd-style change? Bill Miller thinks so. -- Hoover’s Business Insight Zone

Does Citi need Hurd-style change? Bill Miller thinks so.

December 06th, 2007

Bill Miller’s* message to Citigroup: Don’t bring in a new CEO to launch a new strategy. Bring in someone who can simplify and execute instead — like Mark Hurd has done at Hewlett-Packard.

Bill Miller’s simple plan for Citi

. . . He said the bank should find someone who has a similar management style to Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd. Hurd replaced Carly Fiorina in 2005 and has led a dramatic turnaround at HP, mainly by cutting costs and focusing the computer company on what it does best.

In other words, Miller said he does not want to see Citigroup bring in someone who would have a radically different vision for the company, even though it has been hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis.

“I would like someone to run Citi like the way that Hurd saw HP - someone to come in and simplify the processes. That’s key. Someone who would approach Citi that way would be great,” he said. “Citi doesn’t need a major strategic overhaul.” . . .