So that’s why Citigroup needed to buy that extra luxury jet: to fly ex-CEOs to ritzy Mexican vacation spots.
We’re not kidding: The bank actually lent former Citi Chairman Sandy Weill and his family its fancy Bombardier BD 700 Global Express to fly to top-dollar One & Only Palmilla in San José del Cabo in December, The Post reported Sunday.
Even as Citigroup was scarfing up $45 billion in taxpayer bailout cash (and $306 billion more in federal guarantees).
No wonder the bank’s in the deep weeds.
No wonder it saw no problem with plunking down $50 million for another luxury jet, a French-made Dassault Falcon 7X, while taking taxpayer cash – until The Post blew the whistle on that outrage, and the bank scrapped the deal.
Weill took the plane from Dec. 26 to Jan. 3 – more than a month after CEOs at Detroit’s Big Three nearly blew their own plea for a taxpayer handout by flying to DC on corporate jets.
The cost of Weill’s jet – which reportedly features a full bar, Baccarat Crystal glassware and pillows made of Hermes scarves – is estimated at $70,550 to $90,550 for the week.
To be sure, Weill’s use of the plane is apparently allowed by his contract with Citi, which kept him as a consultant after he quit as chairman in ’06. An SEC filing says he must reimburse the bank for the jet’s costs, and a source says he “paid what he agreed to in the contract.”
Plus, only hours after The Post’s story appeared Sunday, Weill himself – a generous philanthropist, by the way – agreed to stop using the jet immediately.
A statement he issued read: “Mr. Weill . . . recognizes the extraordinary commitment by the American taxpayer . . . He will waive his contract providing for the use of any corporate aircraft.”
Still, if Citi’s top brass had any sense, they’d have found a way to end the practice long ago.
Indeed, the folks running all of the bailed-out banks – and those in Congress who did the bailing – would be well-advised not to take the American people’s patience for granted in these matters.
It is not unlimited.