Shearson back from American Express for $1 billion ($ today), and merged it into Smith Barney. Weill offered Joe Plumeri the presidency of Smith Barney, and he became the President of the merged company that year. He only lasted a year, as he experienced conflicts with existing Smith Barney managers. In September 1997, Travelers acquired Salomon Inc. (parent company of Salomon Brothers Inc.), for over $9 billion ($ today) in stock, and merged it with its own investment arm to create Salomon Smith Barney. In April 1998 Travelers Group announced an agreement to undertake a $76 billion ($ today) merger between Travelers and Citicorp, creating Citigroup, which at the time of the merger was the largest single financial services company in the world. At the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks, it was the largest tenant in 7 World Trade Center, occupying 1,202,900 sq ft (111,750 m2) (64 percent of the building) which included floors 28–45. Sale to Morgan Stanley During the major financial crisis beginning in late 2008, Citigroup suffered large losses in its retained collateralized debt obligation exposure (loans that Citi underwrote but was not able to sell), and had to be rescued by the U.S. federal government. They decided to sell or close "non-core" businesses in order to raise money. On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup announced the merger of Smith Barney with Morgan Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group, with Morgan Stanley paying $2.7 billion cash upfront to Citigroup for a 51% stake in the joint venture. The joint venture operates as Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Morgan Stanley itself was in a financially cash-strapped position like Citigroup during that time, but they were helped by the $9 billion that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group had paid in 2008 for a 21% stake in Morgan Stanley. On June 1, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup announced they closed early on the launch of their joint venture that combines Morgan Stanley's wealth management unit (including many former Dean Witter assets) with Citi's Smith Barney brokerage division. The new venture, called Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, was supposed to launch during the third quarter. The combined entity generates about $14 billion in net revenue, has 18,500 financial advisors, 1,000 locations worldwide and serves about 6.8 million households. Citigroup disclosed on September 17, 2009, they would sell their remaining shares in the group to partner Morgan Stanley. Acquisition history The following