Citi Dumps Its $100-Million Man

I was wondering what Vikram and Company were going to do about Andrew Hall, that pesky trader of theirs (employed through Citi's commodities trading subsidiary, Phibro LLC) who banked $100 million last year and is on track to pocket the same amount this year. Today, we all found out: Citi decided to sell out. That is, it sold the Phibro subsidiary, washing its hands of Hall.

Unlike many bankers last year, Hall had the books to back up his paycheck (he made a bundle for Citi) and has 'em to back him this year as well. But due to Citi still sucking on the teat of Uncle Sam (it hasn't yet repaid that little $45 billion it borrowed under TARP), Hall's compensation came under fire and stood to get even more not-so-nice media play when Kenny Feinberg, the U.S. Pay Czar, releases his compensation report later this month.

It's likely a good move for Citi, which needs to get out from under Sam's thumb as soon as it can, and distance itself from any further compensation controversy, even if it means losing a few hundred million dollars in annual revenues in the process.