Thain Pushed Out at Bank of America as Merrill Loss Widens

[lanlady]

Source: Bloomberg News

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- John Thain, who engineered the sale of 95-year-old Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America Corp. in September, was ousted after Merrill’s $15.4 billion loss forced the lender to seek more money from the U.S. government.

Thain, 53, “agreed his situation was not working out and that he should resign,” Bank of America spokesman Robert Stickler said in an e-mail today. His exit ends Thain’s tenure with the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank less than a month after Merrill’s takeover was completed.

Thain negotiated the sale with Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis, 61, whose credibility was undercut when the brokerage reported a record fourth-quarter deficit. Lewis, who considered backing out of the deal when he learned of the extent of Merrill’s losses last month, went ahead at the insistence of U.S. regulators who provided a new $138 billion aid package.

“There was a certain surprise that the Merrill losses were as steep as they were,” said James Post, a professor of corporate governance and business ethics at Boston University School of Management. “On top of that, I think Lewis didn’t think Thain was doing as much as he could to control the expenses and minimize the losses.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=home&sid=ap2Hq6Ub9vgc

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A Merrill insider just called to tell me that the shit is flying all over at BOA and Merrill. Thain was hiding losses.

[depakid]

1. Ha- just a month or so ago, Thain had the audacity to push for a $10 million bonus

Good riddance.

[xchrom]

2. some sah-weet news -- thank you. nt