Citigroup CIO Marty Lippert Leaves For Personal Reasons

After eight-and-a-half months on the job, Marty Lippert has left his post as CIO of Citigroup.

The company announced in an internal memo dated Monday, March 16, 2009 that Lippert left Citigroup “to return home to Canada for personal reasons.” CIO.com received a copy of the memo from Citigroup’s public affairs department and from a former employee. The text of the memo is reprinted below.

In the memo, Citigroup’s Chief Administrative Officer Don Callahan thanked Lippert for his “many contributions,” which included reducing the company’s operations and technology costs and improving productivity. Callahan also announced that he would serve as Citigroup’s interim CIO while the company seeks a replacement.

Lippert joined Citigroup as its CIO and Corporate Operations and Technology Chief Operating Officer in July 2008. He previously served as group head of global technology and operations for the Royal Bank of Canada.

Citigroup’s Memo about Marty Lippert

To: Senior Leadership Committee

Global Operations & Technology

From: Don Callahan, CAO

Date: March 16, 2009

Re: O&T Organizational Announcement

Since joining Citi last year, Marty Lippert has made significant progress streamlining and integrating our global operations and technology, lowering O&T costs and increasing productivity across the company. He is truly one of the best O&T executives in the business.

Unfortunately for Citi, Marty has decided to return home to Canada for personal reasons. We recognize this was not an easy decision for him, especially given the progress he and his team have made in such a short time. Still, we respect his decision and appreciate his many contributions to Citi. Please join me in wishing Marty continued success in the future.

I will be serving as the interim head of O&T effective immediately, in addition to my other responsibilities, as we search for Marty’s replacement. As Vikram has said before, in today’s global environment, Citi’s continued competitiveness depends on leading O&T capabilities. We remain committed to the strategy we’ve put in place and I look forward to working with our global O&T organization to continue driving even greater enterprise transformation.