Former Citigroup chair Richard Parsons dies

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Richard “Dick” Parsons, the influential US corporate executive who chaired Citigroup in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has died.

Parsons died on Thursday, according to statement of the Lazard investment bank, where he was a board member.The New York Times reported that the cause of death was bone cancer, citing Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder, who was 76.

Parsons took over as chairman of Citi in February 2009 as the bank was reeling from the financial crisis of 2008. He joined the bank shortly after receiving a $300 billion bailout from the federal government told the Financial Times in 2009 that his background and business connections would be active at Citi.

“The impact and involvement of taxpayers and regulators on this company is significant,” he said at the time.Parsons left Citi in 2012.

He previously jumped into the fray when he took over Time Warner after its disastrous merger with AOL in 2002. At Time Warner, Parsons battled activist investor Carl Icahn in a 2006 bid for control of the media giant.

Parsons supported Barack Obama’s bid for the White House and served on the boards of the Apollo Theater in New York and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

This is a developing story