Richard Bowen

Richard Bowen speaks about ethical leadership, engaging leaders and organizations in responsible management.

Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other investors. Bowen requested an external investigation of his business unit in his notable 2007 email to Citigroup's board, highlighting extreme risks and potential losses, which was largely ignored.

Citigroup eventually stripped him of all responsibilities, placed him on administrative leave, and told him his presence was no longer required at the bank. Bowen subsequently testified before the Securities and Exchange Commission, providing them with over one thousand pages of evidence of fraudulent activities. In 2010, he was a key witness in the mortgage mishaps and gave nationally televised testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on April 7, 2010.

Despite his efforts and years of extensive coverage, including appearances on "60 Minutes" and other prominent media outlets, and numerous subpoenas with additional testimony, no one has yet been prosecuted for what happened at Citigroup and other financial institutions. His story was notably featured in the "60 Minutes" episode titled "Prosecuting Wall Street."

As a highly sought-after ethical leadership speaker, Bowen's presentations, such as "Playing for High Stakes: The Principles and Practice of Ethical Leadership" and "Warnings Ignored - Ethical Leadership Speaker," keep audiences engaged. He explains in clear terms what an organization must do to instill effective guiding principles throughout to prevent ethical misconduct.

Bowen served as a professor of accounting at the University of Texas at Dallas for over 13 years, where he educated upcoming business leaders. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. A Certified Public Accountant, he was named CPA of The Year (2012) by the Dallas Society of CPAs and recognized by Dallas’ D CEO Magazine as the 2012 recipient of its annual Financial Executives Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance. His significant contributions have also earned him a place among the "25 Whistleblowers Who Changed History," recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Government Accountability Project.