Online brokerage firm E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) announced Monday that it has appointed Steven Freiberg as the new chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2010. Freiberg will succeed interim Chief Executive Officer Robert Druskin, who will remain on the Board and continue in his role as non-executive chairman. Freiberg will also join the company's board of directors, replacing George Hayter, who at age 71 does not qualify for re-election.
In a statement, Druskin said, "The Board is delighted to welcome Steve to lead E*TRADE into its next phase of growth. Steve is an exceptional senior financial services executive who brings extensive experience in driving the strategic direction and management of a broad and diverse consumer financial services franchise."
Freiberg, with a distinguished 30-year career at Citigroup, Inc. (C), was most recently the chairman and chief executive officer of Citi Holdings - Global Consumer Group from January 2009 until April 2009. He then announced his retirement from Citigroup effective July 31, 2009 after serving as executive vice president of Citibank N.A., from September 2005 through July 2009. He has also served on the Board of Directors of MasterCard since September 2006.
Freiberg also served as chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup's Global Consumer Group N.A. and from From 2005 until March 2008. Earlier, Freiberg served as chairman and chief executive officer of Citi Cards from 2001 until 2005, where he led the world's largest credit card franchise. Prior to that, he was chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup's Investment Products Division N.A.
Freiberg, since joining Citigroup's Card Products Division in 1980, has held positions of increasing seniority with Citigroup's predecessor companies and affiliates. These include holding the positions of chief financial officer, chief information officer and also sales director of Citicorp Investment Services from 1987 to 1992, as well as serving as chairman and chief executive officer of the North American Investment Products Division from 1995 to 1997.
"E*TRADE is an extraordinary company with a powerful brand and a compelling customer value proposition. Bob Druskin and Don Layton, his predecessor, did a terrific job leading the Company through very challenging times and positioning the organization for success. I look forward to the opportunity to work with the Company's talented management team to build on that momentum and help drive E*TRADE's future growth and profitability," Freiberg added.
The New York-based company also revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has entered into an employment agreement with Freiberg, whereby he will receive an annual base salary of $1 million, plus annual cash performance bonus as well as annual equity incentives, with both bonuses based on target achievement.
E*Trade has been scouting to fill the position of chief executive officer since late September when Donald Layton decided to leave the company as his contract expired. Layton became the chairman of the company in November 2007 and chief executive officer in March 2008. He was also a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Meanwhile, E*Trade named Lead Independent Director Druskin as the chairman of the board and as the interim chief executive officer, effective December 31, 2009. Druskin succeeded Layton to both the positions. Layton then entered into a consulting agreement in order to help Druskin and the to-be-newly-appointed chief executive officer. Druskin, who has been a director of the company since February 2008, is also a former chief operating officer of the Citigroup, and was a member of the office of the chairman.
Additionally, the company also said that it will seek shareholder approval for a 1-for-10 reverse stock split and a corresponding decrease to its authorized shares of common stock to a total of 400 million shares, which were unanimously approved by the board on March 19, 2010. The company would seek the approval at the 2010 Annual Meeting, scheduled to be held on May 13, 2010.
In Monday's regular trading session, ETFC is currently trading at $1.55, down $0.02 or 1.27% on a volume of 26.47 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $1.14 to $2.90.
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