Early Life and Education

Vikram Pandit was born in Maharashtra, India, into a well-established Marathi Brahmin family. His father, Shankar B. Pandit, served as an executive director at Sarabhai Chemicals in Baroda. Raised in an academically inclined environment, Pandit attended Bishop Cotton School in Nagpur and later moved to Mumbai, where he studied at Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School.

At the age of sixteen, Pandit moved to the United States to pursue higher education at Columbia University. Within three years, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1976. He followed this with a Master of Science in electrical engineering in 1977. Driven by a growing interest in finance, Pandit continued at Columbia Business School, receiving both an MBA and a PhD in finance by 1986. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Asset Prices in a Heterogeneous Consumer Economy."

Early Career at Morgan Stanley (1983–2005)

Pandit briefly lectured in economics at Columbia University and later served as a professor at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. In 1983, he joined Morgan Stanley as an associate, becoming one of the firm's first Indian-origin employees.

By 1990, Pandit was promoted to managing director and head of the U.S. Equity Syndicate. In 1994, he became managing director of Morgan Stanley’s worldwide Institutional Securities Division, where he played a pivotal role in developing the firm's electronic trading and prime brokerage capabilities.

In 2000, Pandit was appointed president and chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities and Investment Banking division. He worked closely with John Havens during his tenure. After two decades with the company, Pandit and Havens resigned from Morgan Stanley in 2005.

Old Lane LLC and Entry into Citigroup

In 2006, Pandit co-founded Old Lane LLC, a hedge fund, along with John Havens and Guru Ramakrishnan, a former Morgan Stanley executive. In 2007, Citigroup acquired Old Lane for approximately $800 million, bringing Pandit and his team into Citi’s senior leadership. He was appointed chairman and CEO of Citi Alternative Investments (CAI) and later headed Citi's Institutional Clients Group.

CEO of Citigroup (2007–2012)

On December 11, 2007, Vikram Pandit was appointed CEO of Citigroup, supported by then-interim chairman Robert Rubin. Taking the role during the financial crisis, Pandit committed to restoring stability and rebuilding the firm. In 2009, he testified before Congress, announcing that he would forgo most of his pay and work for a symbolic salary of $1 per year until the bank returned to profitability. That year, he received total compensation of $128,751, with a base salary of $125,001.