The announcement of the merger between Citicorp and Travelers, hailed as the biggest in corporate history, raises doubts about whether the bosses can "merge their egos".
Sceptics are betting on whether Sandy Weill of Travelers or John Reed of Citicorp will end up on top of Citigroup, as the new giant company will be called.
The news of the $155 billion (£131 billion) merger helped propel the Dow Jones past the 9000-point barrier on Monday. Wall St loved the news and $30 billion was added to the joint value of the companies.
The combined assets of $698 billion will make Citigroup the biggest financial services company in the world.
Mr Weill is a friend of President Clinton and he called him on the night of the merger to discuss it. The value of Mr Weill's stock in Travelers jumped by $248 million to $1.52 billion. Mr Reed's holding in Citicorp rose $67 million to $321 million.
Wall Street is sceptical that the plan to have Mr Weill and Mr Reed as "co-chief executives and co-chairmen" will work out. Their styles are too different and recent history has shown power-sharing at this level does not work. It failed in the Time Warner media merger, the Cigna insurance merger and with Macy's attempt to split executive functions between co-CEOs and co-chairmen.
It is the difference in styles in this case that intrigues most observers.
Mr Weill is the older man at 65 but his rumpled, outgoing, streetfighter persona contrasts with the younger (59) buttoned-down pinstripe banker-style of Mr Reed.
Mr Weill keeps a neon sign in his office that blinks: "The Chairman is not happy." He began at the bottom in Wall St as a messenger but soon started his own brokerage firm with three friends on money borrowed from their families.
In 1981 the firm was thriving and he sold it to American Express. But he was unhappy as No. 2 ("deputy dog") and left four years later. Using smaller financial companies as takeover vehicles in the 1980s, Mr Weill ended up buying Travelers Corp, a giant but financially troubled insurance company. He knocked it into shape with ruthless cost-cutting.
John Reed who has degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began in a lowly position in Citicorp and gradually worked his way up the ladder to become the youngest CEO of the bank in 1984. But five years later he was almost fired when Citicorp got into serious trouble because of the Third World debt crisis and the property slump.
Mr Reid is described as "reserved and clinical" in contrast to the more ebullient Mr Weill. But the betting is on Mr Weill to come out on top on the day the "co-chairmanship" breaks down.
