But Wells Fargo chairman Dick Kovacevich abruptly walked away from a deal late that Sunday night. Stunned and terrified, the Wachovia team “fell to the floor,” according to one Wall Street Journal source. A sleepless night But within hours, a knight in shining armor rode in to save Wachovia. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chairwoman Sheila Blair persuaded Citigroup chairman and CEO Vikram Pandit to come up with a last-minute deal. With senior government officials acting as brokers, the two banks negotiated through the night. They emerged at 6:30 a.m. Monday with a rough two-page “letter of intent”—notably not an official merger agreement—for Citigroup’s purchase of Wachovia.