The federal government's bail out investment in Citigroup is on track to not only return the amount invested by the taxpayers but also turn a substantial profit. The institution that was once referred to as the "Death Star" is quickly changing to a profit center.

The United States Treasury recently sold 1.5 billion of its 7.7 billion shares in Citigroup, acquired through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which reduced the size of the taxpayer-owned share to about 22% from 27%. At the time the Treasury acquired the shares they were priced at $3.25. Upon the recent sale of the 1.5 billion shares, the share value had reached $4.13 per share returning a profit of 88 cents per share, or $1.32 billion.

Morgan Stanley was hired to manage the government's divestment of taxpayers' stake in Citigroup. Morgan Stanley was given "discretionary authority" to sell the shares "under certain parameters." The Treasury has stated that they are not involved in "soliciting or approving orders."

There are plans to sell an additional 1.5 billion shares of the taxpayer-owned Citigroup stock out of the 6.2 billion that remain. This sale is projected to happen by the end of June. In addition, the Qatar Investment Authority has shown interest in purchasing the remaining shares. As of April, the government's $45 billion investment in Citigroup was expected to make a profit of nearly $11 billion, plus an estimated $8 billion in interest and other fees. However, some fear that if the government is too hasty in winding down its stake in Citigroup that it will lose out on larger gains if Citigroup's shares continue to rise. Banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase paid back their bailouts early and although the government recovered the entire amounts borrowed, along with several billion dollars in interest, the government would have recovered even more in interest and profits had it waited a little longer.