"It was a lot bigger turnout than I ever expected, " said manager John Reed, who was dressed in a black tuxedo with tails and gray pinstriped pants.

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Skeptical of the concept of a financial supermarket which was what Sandy Weill and John Reed said they were creating with the merger of Citi and Travelers, he walked into a branch and asked for a credit card.

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They saw it as a victory for their hero, John Reed, over Mr Weill, the Travelers man, who had until then been thought to be in the driving seat.

ECONOMIST: Citigroup

His immediate role was to act as a tie-breaker between then co-chief executives John Reed and Sanford Weill.

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"While most people now see Ralph Reed as a tainted man raising tainted money, John McCain sees him as a source of campaign cash, " a narrator says.

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The abrupt departure from Citigroup of its president Jamie Dimon, supposedly a likely successor to co-chairmen Sandy Weill and John Reed, hit the share price and raised concerns about the meshing together of Citicorp and Travelers in the world's biggest-ever financial-services merger.

ECONOMIST: Growing trend

He joined the bank in 1999 to act as sort of a tie-breaker in an office of the chairman that had co-chief executives, Weill and John Reed.

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At Citi, that job may fall to Robert Rubin, the ex-treasury secretary, who joined Citi in 1999 to act as sort of a tie-breaker in an office of the chairman that had co-chief executives, Weill and John Reed.

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