Two Heads, One Guillotine: Citi's Brave Foray into Corporate History's Most Cursed Job Share
Citi Australia has appointed two Co-Heads for its Capital Markets and Advisory division, pairing an 18-year insider with a poach from Goldman Sachs. They're trying the dual-command model, a corporate graveyard so full it proves those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it.
One can only assume Citi's board reviewed the following case studies and concluded, "Yes, more of that, please."
- Deutsche Bank: In 2012, the German giant paired a London-based investment banker who spoke "little German" with a Frankfurt insider.The goal was synergy; the result was a two-headed hydra that couldn't agree which head to feed first. Plagued by cultural divides and regulatory fines, the partnership ended in a spectacular implosion and the resignation of both men.
- The Carlyle Group: The private equity firm's co-CEO experiment was described as "awkward... and increasingly acrimonious".The fatal flaw was giving one CEO control of the more profitable divisions, allowing him to "quickly establish dominance" and turning the C-suite into a battle for influence that ended with his partner's retirement after just 30 months.
- Salesforce: Founder Marc Benioff has tried the co-CEO model twice, and both times it ended abruptly amid "murmurings of power struggles" or a sudden desire for his partner to "return to his entrepreneurial roots".The lesson: when the founder is still in the building, a co-CEO is often just a temporary title, valid only until the king gets bored of sharing.
So, welcome to the Thunderdome, Messrs. Connolly and Perzi. The org chart will be perfectly symmetrical, and the rest of the bank will be taking bets. History suggests this ends in one of three ways: an awkward power struggle, paralyzing indecision, or one of you suddenly needing to pursue "other opportunities."
Posted Sep 28, 2025, 1:45 PM UTC
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