It's crunch time for one of Europe's last big Wall Street players

Two years ago, C.S. Venkatakrishnan was unexpectedly thrust into the top job at British banking giant Barclays. A year later, he felt a lump on his neck and was diagnosed with cancer.

- Josh Mitchell

Now, after successfully undergoing treatment, Venkatakrishnan faces a career-defining test. The Indian-born risk specialist is trying to succeed where his predecessors failed, to persuade investors that Barclays's eclectic mix of Main Street finance and Wall Street heft makes sense. He is preparing to unveil his blueprint for the bank alongside annual results due Feb. 20.

Venkatakrishnan, 58 years old, took over as chief executive in November 2021, after then-CEO Jes Staley resigned over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Since then, Barclays shares in London have fallen by more than a quarter. Dozens of top bankers quit last year for other institutions. Consumer balances at its vaunted credit-card arm are down sharply since the pandemic, while competition is mounting in Main Street banking in Britainincluding from Venkatakrishnan's old employer, JPMorgan Chase.

Barclays has one of the biggest investment banks of any non-U.S. player, advising on mergers and stock offerings, and executing market trades.

While Venkatakrishnan has sought to play down expectations of a major restructuring, he says he wants to shift the focus elsewhere, and has acknowledged the company's weak share price is a problem.

In an early sign of that emphasis, he is splashing out more than $750 million on the banking arm of Tesco, the British supermarket chain.

"At the core of Barclays is our U.K. bank," Venkatakrishnan told The Wall Street Journal in Davos, Switzerland, last month. "Any strong global bank has to be really good in its domestic market, and that has to be the core of our ambition." "I think if you're going to aim for higher returns and a better valuation, you need to have a more balanced bank," he said.

Often known simply as Venkat, the cricket-loving banker splits his time between London and New York, and tries to be in the office by  6:30 a.m.