Citigroup: How Low Can You Go?

Shares of Citigroup fell to just $1 each today, bringing the market capitalization of what was once the world's biggest bank to a measly $5.5 billion.

To give this monumental moment some perspective, Citigroup is now...

...the same size as Lehman Brothers the week before it filed for bankruptcy.

...barely bigger than the amount JP Morgan earned trading over-the-counter derivatives last year.

...about the same size as Alcatel-Lucent's loss during the fourth quarter.

...worth just slightly more than everyone thought Mark Zuckerberg was worth when Microsoft made its investment in Facebook at a ridiculously lofty valuation.

...roughly the same size as the amount the porn industry is asking for a bailout from the government.

...the same size as what Google believed AOL was worth at the end of last year, based on its writedown of its investment in it.

...worth as much money as Defense Secretary Robert Gates estimates the surge in Afghanistan will cost in 2009.

...worth the same amount that Ford spent in the last three months of 2008.

...worth as much as PNC Bank agreed to pay for National City last year.

...about 1/8th of the size of the investment the U.S. government has made into it since last fall.

by Megan Barnett