The New York Post's "Page Six" reports, you decide:
"Financial giant Citigroup was strangely mum last night on why Todd Thomson, its 45-year-old fair-haired head of wealth management, left the firm suddenly in a management shakeup yesterday. Sources close to the Wall Street giant say Thomson got on the bad side of CEO Chuck Prince by shuttling personal friends - including CNBC's anchor and 'Money Honey' Maria Bartiromo - around the world on the company's corporate jet. Sources said that Thomson, whose unit was a financial success story inside the firm, had been warned about his high-flying ways - but that the tipping point came when Bartiromo joined him on the Citi corporate jet between New York and Beijing last year. A CNBC spokesman later said: 'Maria sought and received approval in advance to fly to Asia on Citi's jet. Billing was handled between CNBC's corporate parent and Citi.' Bartiromo, reached via e-mail in Davos, Switzerland, said any connection to Thomson's departure was 'flat-out wrong.'"
Interestingly enough, The New York Times prints pretty the same story this morning.
The Cable Game would be the first to admit that it doesn't know much about High Finance. But it does know something about High Maintenance women! And so TCG recognizes Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo as a kindred spirit. Go, girl!
And so whatever the truth about the relationship between Bartiromo and Thomson--and that's a lo-o-o-ng trip from NYC to Beijing!--we can now fully expect that relationship to get the full juicy + dishy treatment from Vanity Fair, Radar, The New York Observer, etc.
And it'll be fun!
