# A History of Makeovers Leaves Citigroup Chasing Growth

1 Opinion March 30, 2017 Financial News ![Roy C. Smith](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/uat_025572.jpg?itok=Kn4Ckx0s) By Roy C. Smith > Finding successful long-term business models is not something that Citi has been good at.

The Economist recently observed that “Citigroup’s decade of agony is almost over,” and now all it needs to is be able to demonstrate that it can grow again. That will not be so easy. After a decade of focusing on just surviving, it now has to select a business model that can succeed in the decade to come.

Finding successful long-term business models is not something that Citi has been good at.

Walter Wriston (CEO of Citibank from 1967- 1984) developed the bank’s widespread international franchise, but he also installed a super-competitive ethos for the bank that led it to great heights before stumbling badly in the 1980s from bad loans and write-offs.

Read full article as published in [Financial News](https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/a-history-of-makeovers-leaves-citigroup-chasing-growth-20170330).

\_\_\_
*Roy C. Smith is the Kenneth G. Langone Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and a professor of Management Practice.* ## More Opinions from Roy C. Smith

- [Lloyd Blankfein Legacy is a Headache for Solomon](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/lloyd-blankfein-legacy-headache-solomon)
- [Why The Trump Tariff Increases Are All Wrong](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/why-the-trump-tariff-increases-are-all-wrong)
- [Is This Stock Market Sell-Off The Real Deal?](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/is-this-stock-market-sell-off-the-real-deal)
- [‘It Frightened Everyone on Wall Street’ – a Memory of Black Monday](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/a-memory-of-black-monday)
- [A Troubled Future Remains for Global Banks](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/a-troubled-future-remains-for-global-banks)