Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is no friend of Ken Lewis, the outgoing chief executive of Bank of America. Thain worked with Lewis last year to engineer the merger of Merrill and BofA, but was kicked to the curb shortly after the deal was complete and almost instantly turned into the fall guy for the messy…
Merrill Lynch's disgraced CEO, John Thain, turns 53 today. Rocker Lenny Kravitz is turning 45. Helena Bonham Carter turns 43. Matt Stone, the co-creator of South Park, is turning 38. Stevie Nicks is 61. Mega-lawyer and Cravath partner Robert D. Joffe is 66. Socialite Annie Churchill is turning 38. Architect Bruce Fowle
• John Thain is striking back at Bank of America in an effort "to restore his sullied reputation," and accusing BofA's CEO, Ken Lewis, of lying. [WSJ]
• Thanks to rising profits, employees at several banks are on track to earn as much money this year as they did before the financial crisis. [NYT]
• UBS's head of…
• The Treasury is expected to announce in the next few days that it will be extending bailout funds to a handful of life insurance companies. [WSJ]
• Brian Moynihan, who took over Merrill Lynch after John Thain was ousted, is emerging as a potential successor to Bank of America chief Ken Lewis. [WSJ]
• Not that Lewis…
If you're outraged about the current state of the economy and you need an outlet for your anger, you may want to catch a bus to Boston instead of taking one to visit the homes of AIG executives. Just a few of the names in the press these days who happen to be graduates of Harvard Business School: Former Merrill Lynch…
When it was revealed in late January that John Thain spent $1.2 million renovating his office at Merrill Lynch in early 2008—back before the global financial meltdown was truly upon us—people were up in arms. Such a stupid move! So tone deaf! When it was reported yesterday that Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit was…
• Is AIG officially the most despised company in America? Following the disclosure over the weekend that execs planned to go ahead with $165 million in bonuses to top execs comes word that a good deal of the billions in bailout money it received went to banks like Goldman Sachs ($12.9 billion), Merrill Lynch ($6.8…
"People need to be encouraged to start spending again," Michael Gross writes, especially the masters of the universe—such as John Thain, left—who made a mint during the boom years and then led us into this mess. So how do we go about doing that? Not by shunning them, or requiring them to take their fortunes and turn…
• Citi chief Vikram Pandit is still working out the details of a rescue package that would turn over as much as 40% of the bank to the federal government. He'd really love to hang on to his job as part of the deal, though. [WSJ]
• In a last-ditch effort to raise cash, Citigroup is looking to sell off both its Japanese…
• As part of the rescue plan currently under discussion in Washington, the government would end up with 40 percent of Citigroup, which isn't quite the same as nationalizing it, but is pretty darn close. [NYT]
• JPMorgan Chase cut its dividend to a nickel yesterday. [AP]
• John Thain spent six hours answering Andrew…
• Details about the Obama administration's plan to revise the bailout are still sketchy, but more will be revealed by Tim Geithner tomorrow. [WSJ, BN, DB]
• UBS is slashing bonuses by 80 percent, but the bank says it does not have plans to get out of investment banking altogether. [BN]
• Barclays announced that…
John Thain recently got into a bit of trouble for aiding the collapse of global capitalism. But he survived this scandal from his MIT says, so surely he'll weather this storm. The college thing?
• Kate Moss has been telling friends that she wants to branch out into acting so she can become a "Hollywood star," and that she's already lined up an agent in New York. [Showbiz Spy]
• Michael Phelps has issued an apology after photos appeared this weekend in the News of the World showing him smoking weed. [NYP, …
Ken Sunshine sure isn't having a good week. The celebrity publicist famous for working with A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Timberlake has been helping former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain defend himself this week. Sunshine's work on Thain's behalf hasn't gone so well, of course: Thain had trouble mustering…
• Wells Fargo reported a $2.55 billion loss for the fourth quarter; it also said recently acquired Wachovia lost $11 billion during the period. [BN, WSJ]
• Steve Schwarzman says it's a "wonderful time" for the industry, despite the fact his net worth has dropped by $7 billion in recent months. [BN]
• Andrew Cuomo has…
We never really considered that John Thain and Jocelyne Wildenstein had much in common. One's a former Wall Street star who has seen his career accomplishments overshadowed by lousy decisions during the financial crisis. The other is a woman who spends her days visiting plastic surgeons and spreading cream across her…
It was a different time. Blame the old guy. I told you everything. Is there an excuse former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain hasn't trotted out to explain why his fall is not his fault?
Related: Gloomy Days in Davos [Cityfile]
• Is Jennifer Aniston planning to steal the spotlight away from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the Oscars by showing up to the ceremony with John Mayer and with a ring on her finger? Maybe! [Star]
• Alex Rodriguez either spent last weekend hanging out with Madonna at Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld's East Hampton…
Why did former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain spend $1.2 million renovating his office when he took from Stan O'Neal at the firm? It was because O'Neal's office was "very different," and it would have been "very difficult" to use it in the "form that is was in." We're not sure what that means either. A clip from Thain's…
