Joe's unique style of leadership and ability to inspire others to find their passion has left audiences of thousands chanting "Anything is possible."
Doctors, lawyers, artists, musicians, sports teams, students, fortune 500 companies; Joe's message has found a way to their hearts.
Joe's first jobs included digging sewers in Trenton, N.J., working as a waiter, tour guide, high school teacher to an errand boy at Carter, Berlind &Weill. For the following 30 years, Joe rose from errand boy to eventually, leading billion dollar businesses within the empire that would eventually be known worldwide as Citigroup. His path took him to become president and managing partner of Shearson Lehman Brothers in 1990 and, eventually, the president of Smith Barney in 1993.
Joe's next big step, in 1995, was as chairman and CEO of Primerica Financial Services where he regularly captivated audiences of tens of thousands of self-employed insurance salespeople, inspiring them to help those in their communities capitalize on the growing stock market by buying term life insurance and investing the difference, thereby bringing the American Dream closer for millions of people.
In 1999, when Travelers Group succeeded in its $70 billion merger with Citicorp, creating Citigroup, Joe helped to lead the integration of the two giant companies and was appointed CEO of Citibank, North America, the mainstay financial brand with 450 retail branches across the United States, boosting the division's earnings by 400%, to $415 million, in just one year.In 1999, Joe led the integration of Travelers Group and Citicorp after $70 billion merger. He went on to serve as CEO of Citibank North America.
After 32 years as an executive at Citigroup Inc, he became CEO and Chairman of Willis Group Holdings in 2000. Along the way, Joe revolutionized both his firm and the insurance industry, leading it toward greater transparency, increased innovation and better client service, exemplified by Willis's now famous "Client Bill of Rights." His most memorable feat may have come in 2009, after orchestrating Willis's $2.1 billion acquisition of rival Hilb Rogal & Hobbs in 2008, when he moved the company's Midwest headquarters into the Sears Tower, culminating that deal with the building's renaming, to Willis Tower, of what was the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. Today, Chicagoans point to their iconic landmark, the Willis Tower, and remember the day that Joe Plumeri helped to reestablish its preeminence in the American skyline.
Joe Plumeri is now in his latest chapter of affirming his enduring belief, proven many times over, that "Anything is Possible." Called on once again by Henry Kravis and KKR, he has joined his friend of 30 years, Frank Bisignano, the chairman and CEO of First Data Corp., to help create, perhaps, the greatest turnaround in U.S. business history.
"North of Confident and South of Arrogant is Swagger."
