Citi's Michael Klein Will Finally Have Time for Model Trains and Stamp Collecting

(MoneyWatch)  Citigroup's announcement today that Michael Klein is leaving the company surely makes one wonder whether there is a reason for Citigroup. Klein, oft referred to as one of the bank's "most senior executives" though he is all of 44, is leaving "to pursue other opportunities." He should have a few. His bio on the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a unit of Harvard's Kennedy School, says Klein is:

a member of the Board of IHS Inc., General Motors Acceptance Corporation, LLC, the Chairman's Committee and Board of the London Investment Bankers Association, The Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue, The Investment Advisory Board of the Prime Minister of Turkey, the Advisory Board for the National Football League, the board of the British American Business institute and the Mount Sinai Medical Center Board of Trustees.

But Klein is not done. He is also:

a member of the Dean's Council of the Woodrow Wilson Business School of Princeton and a member of the Belfer Center International Council at Harvard. He is also actively involved in several charitable endeavors focused primarily upon educational development and equal opportunities for young people.

Phew! It's a good thing he'll no longer have to spend any of his spare moments toiling for Citi.

But if Klein is done with Citi, his departure begs the question whether Citi should be done with itself.

Back in 2002, Salomon Brothers announced that Klein would be co-head of global investment banking and Panfilo Tarantelli would be head of European investment banking at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. Since then, Salomon and Schroder have been absorbed into Citi. Michael Carpenter, Klein's boss at the time, was let loose in the aftermath of a scandal in 2006. Carpenter was replaced by Chuck Prince. Prince is now also gone; I'm not sure what happened to Tarantelli.

And Citigroup itself, a conglomerate that pieced together Salomon (investment banking), Travelers (insurance) and Citibank (banking) can't find anyone from any of its constituent parts good enough to run the whole show. CEO Vikram Pandit spent most of his career at Morgan Stanley.