Former Citigroup wealth management head Todd Thomson, in his first major public statement since his departure in January, claimed he had been smeared by former Citi chief executive Charles Prince who himself stood down last week. Mr Thomson's career at Citi came to a halt earlier this year when he left "to pursue other interests" amid press reports of extravagance. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Mr Thomson had developed a "reputation inside the company as a free spender", and his Citigroup office on 7th Avenue in midtown Manhattan was known as the "Todd Mahal." Speaking at a Reuters Finance Summit in New York yesterday, Mr Thomson is reported as saying: "I was the only business that had expense growth less than revenue growth. I was Sandy Weill's CFO for four-and-a-half years. You think I somehow lost my cost management capabilities? This is insane." Press coverage also focused on Thomson's relationship with CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo. One episode that appeared in several media reports was a business trip in November 2006 when Mr Thomson flew with a group of Citigroup employees to China, and flew back with Ms Bartiromo, leaving the Citi employees to find their way home on their own. When asked about his relationship with Ms Bartiromo, Thomson said: "It's an inappropriate question. I've never been accused of having anything other than an appropriate relationship with Maria Bartiromo. And I do have an appropriate relationship with Maria Bartiromo." Mr Thomson, who is founder and chief executive of investment firm Headwaters Capital, said the underlying cause for his exit was tension with Mr Prince over how Citi was run. "There was a very significant rift between me and the now ex-CEO ... To be clear, there was nothing I did at the company that was in any way untoward," he said. Mr Thomson said he grew increasingly dissatisfied with Prince's management style, and should have just left on his own accord. "The advice I always give people is if you're not happy with what you're doing, go do something else. I didn't take my own advice," he said. Mr Thomson also said he suspected that at least one of the "people familiar with the matter" that fed stories to the media was Mr Prince himself. He said: "I had a conversation yesterday with a reporter with one of the news magazines who apologised, who said to me, we knew that it was Chuck Prince personally placing calls to reporters to put that story and we didn't write it and I'm sorry." Mr Thomson did not identify the magazine or the reporter. A spokesman for Citi told Reuters that allegations that Mr Prince was spreading rumors regarding Mr Thomson were "utterly and entirely false."