Supplement, dated January 8, 2002, to the Prospectus, dated May 1, 2001,
                                       of
                 Tri-Continental Corporation (the "Corporation")

     Effective  January 14,  2002,  the  following  information  supersedes  and
replaces the information set forth in the fourth paragraph on pages 12-13 of the
Corporation's  Prospectus under the caption "MANAGEMENT OF THE CORPORATION - The
Manager:."

     The  Corporation's  portfolio  is  managed  by  the  Manager's  Disciplined
Investment  Group.  The  Co-Portfolio  Managers of the  Corporation  are Ben-Ami
Gradwohl, Ph.D. and David Guy, Ph.D.

     Mr.  Gradwohl is a Managing  Director of the Manager.  Mr. Gradwohl is also
Co-Portfolio  Manager of Seligman Common Stock Fund, Inc., Seligman Income Fund,
Inc.  and  Seligman  Tax-Aware  Fund,  Inc.,  as well as Seligman  Common  Stock
Portfolio and Seligman Income Portfolio,  two portfolios of Seligman Portfolios,
Inc. Mr.  Gradwohl  joined the Manager as a Managing  Director in January  2000.
From 1996 to 1999, Mr.  Gradwohl was a Portfolio  Manager at  Nicholas-Applegate
Capital  Management.  During  his  tenure  there,  he  managed  U.S.  systematic
large-cap  portfolios,  tax-efficient  strategies,  an  aggressive  U.S.  equity
offshore fund, a long-short  hedge fund and  international  equity  investments.
From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Gradwohl was a Vice President,  Research and Quantitative
Analysis, at Leland O'Brien Rubinstein  Associates,  Inc. Prior to that, he held
academic  positions at UCLA,  Femi  National  Accelerator  Laboratories  and the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

     Mr. Guy is a Managing Director of the Manager. Mr. Guy is also Co-Portfolio
Manager of Seligman  Common Stock Fund,  Inc.,  Seligman  Income Fund,  Inc. and
Seligman  Tax-Aware  Fund,  Inc., as well as Seligman Common Stock Portfolio and
Seligman Income Portfolio,  two portfolios of Seligman Portfolios,  Inc. Mr. Guy
joined the Manager as a Managing  Director in January  2000.  From 1997 to 1999,
Mr. Guy was a Portfolio  Manager for U.S.  mid-cap  securities in the Systematic
Investment Group at  Nicholas-Applegate  Capital  Management.  During the winter
semester of 1997, he was a Visiting  Associate  Professor with the Department of
Statistics at the  University of California,  Riverside.  From 1992 to 1996, Mr.
Guy served as a Vice  President  with the Equity  Derivatives  Analysis Group at
Salomon Brothers, Inc.