Weill sells £158m shares to Citigroup

SANDY WEILL, who stepped down as Citgroup chief executive this week, has sold $264m (£158m) of stock back to the company to 'facilitate his financial planning' as he reaches a 'new stage' of life.

But Weill, who remains chairman, will retain 16.8m shares worth $794m - 75% of the stock he had been awarded in his time at the company.

To have sold more would have been an embarrassment, as Weill himself had written the policy - the 'blood oath', he called it - requiring executives not to sell down more than 25% of their holdings.

He says he will keep his current shares until he leaves the board, a move he does not plan to make before 2006.

As it was, the deal broke with Citigroup policy of not buying stock from its employees and required special board approval. The company said it had made an exception in Weill's case, as such an unusually large block of shares could have depressed the price when they hit the market.

Citigroup said the 5.6m were purchased at a price of $47.14,

Weill, 70, resigned as chief executive three months ahead of schedule to hand over the reins to long-time ally Charles Prince, head of Citigroup's corporate and investment bank.

The stock price more than doubled in Weill's five years as chairman and chief executive of the world's largest financial services company.