Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin has paid the price for the biggest banking bail-out the UK has ever seen.
Sir Fred - dubbed "Fred the Shred" for his cost-cutting ways - is stepping down as chief executive after being forced to rely on £20 billion of taxpayer funding to shore up the bank.
It came less than six months after he was forced to ask shareholders for £12 billion of extra funds to bolster the balance sheet.
His departure makes him the highest profile UK banking casualty of the credit crunch so far - and also one of the best paid.
Last year the law graduate and chartered accountant was paid £4.2 million, including a £2.86 million bonus. He has an £8.37 million pension pot that will pay him £579,000 a year when he reaches the bank's retirement age.
In a sign he has read the public mood about the banking crisis, Sir Fred has agreed to accept no severance package as part of his exit deal. Insiders suggested it could have been worth as much as £2 million.
He was guarded in media interviews, skating over a chance to apologise to customers and shareholders for the recent financial turmoil.
Instead Sir Fred, 50, thanked friends and colleagues he has worked with, praised the decisive action of the board in asking for more funds and told how the bank was entering a "new chapter" with his successor, Stephen Hester.
During his nine year tenure as RBS boss, he earned both respect and fear in the City as a leading figure in the financial world.
He acquired his nickname after displaying a habit for buying a bank and stripping it of its costs - in particular staff - to generate bigger profits. His takeover tendency led one analyst to describe him as a "megalomaniac".
That arguably came to a head last year when he led a consortium to clinch a £50 billion takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro. It was finalised just before the credit crunch deepened and accelerated the group's multi-billion pound losses this year.
Sir Fred is known mainly by his reputation - he guards his privacy closely and rarely gives full interviews. His background is similar to that of Gordon Brown and it is said that he has enjoyed a good relationship with the Prime Minister and was a regular visitor to Downing Street when Mr Brown was Chancellor.
Sir Fred went to grammar school in Paisley before studying law at Glasgow University.
He became a chartered accountant in 1983, rising to partner at Touche Ross five years later. His subsequent banking career took him to top positions at the Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank after which he joined the board of RBS in 1998.
Among his other roles, Sir Fred is chairman of The Prince's Trust, a non-executive director of Bank of China Limited and a former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.
He was knighted in 2004 for his services to banking.
Outside the world of finance, Sir Fred - who is married to Joyce and has two children - lists his interests as restoring vintage cars and playing golf.
