The World Economic Forum kicks off tomorrow in Davos, Switzerland, but it won't be nearly as exciting as in years past: The financial crisis has led many CEOs and politicians to abandon plans to attend the conference of heavy-hitters. Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein won't be there, although he's reportedly…
Not only is John Thain out of a job, he's $1.2 million poorer, too. The former Merrill Lynch CEO has agreed to reimburse the company for the extensive renovations to his office suite, which included the purchase of a $87,000 area rug and $35,000 toilet. In his own defense, though, he'd like to point out that the…
• Score a small victory for John Thain: It appears Bank of America signed off on the former Merrill Lynch chief's decision to hand out $4 billion in bonuses just before the end of the year, a move partly responsible for his ouster. [FT, CS]
• Steel yourself for an ugly week ahead as corporate earnings come in. [CNN]
•…
Here's another $15,000 or $20,000 down the drain for Bank of America. Shortly before John Thain resigned from BoA yesterday, he met with Ken Lewis, Bank of America's chief executive, for what was described as a 15-minute meeting. "Ken Lewis flew to New York today to talk to John," a bank spokesman explained. We also…
• More on John Thain's ignominious departure from BofA. [WSJ, BN, NYT]
• Mary Schapiro was approved by the Senate to head the SEC. [DB]
• Citi is remaking its board and is ousting Ken Derr and Franklin Thomas. [FT]
• Some investment bankers are keeping busy: Pfizer is in talks to acquire Wyeth in a deal that could be…
After details of a spending spree became public, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain has resigned from his post at Bank of America, which bought his firm in the midst of the Panic of '08.
They called him "Superthain." John Thain, Merrill Lynch's Clark Kent-lookalike CEO, had the public image of a straight-shooting, clean-living superhero CEO. Billions of dollars in losses haven't stained that, but an $87,000 rug could.
With all due respect, Bank of America didn't suddenly force out John Thain because he spent $1 million on office decorations a year ago. That was a year ago! And lots has happened since then! Remember last month when John Thain asked for a year-end bonus, an effort he almost immediately abandoned? That didn't look too…
John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch who assumed control of Bank of America's trading, investment banking and brokerage operations following BoA's acquisition of Merrill, has resigned effective immediately. The reason? The Journal reports that board members considered it "poor judgment" on Thain's part when…
The Wall Street Journal published an excellent piece today on the fall of Lehman Brothers, which is worth a read if you're into that sort of thing, you have access to the Journal site, and you have the patience to digest a 4,800-word article. This afternoon WSJ.com followed up with a few casting suggestions for the…
On the September weekend when Wall Street went poof, a friendless Dick Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, the 158-year-old securities firm, couldn't get his phone calls returned.
Where is the government's bank-bailout money going? In part to pay for Wall Street banker Peter Kraus's $37 million Park Avenue spread.
Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain didn't collect a bonus—his request for $10 million quickly turned into a PR disaster—but the same can't be said for some of the execs Thain recruited to the firm. Peter Kraus, who joined the bank in September, resigned last week after the sale of Merrill to Bank of America triggered a…
• Next in line for a bailout: Step right up, real estate developers! [WSJ]
• Currency traders have been least affected by the gloomy bonus season. [BN]
• JPMorgan is purchasing two business units from UBS. [MW]
• The banks that have received taxpayer bailouts paid their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries,…
I recently reread Den of Thieves, the tale of how federal prosecutors brought down Wall Street giants Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken, the emblems of the '80s takeover boom. It turns out that Boesky never actually said, "Greed is good," the line Michael Douglas uttered as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street.
It's really too bad that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain decided to back down on his request for a $10 million bonus. If he'd stood his ground, just think of how much mileage cable news hosts would have gotten out of the story in the coming days. To your left, Campbell Brown's thoughts on the subject from last night: "Is…
That was quick. This morning, Merrill Lynch chief John Thain was lobbying for a $10 million bonus. By the early afternoon, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had sent off a letter denouncing the idea. Now CNBC is reporting that Thain has relented and has accepted his bonus-less fate. He's not the only one. CNBC also…
♦ Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is tangling with the bank's board over a $10 million annual bonus he says he deserves for "saving" the firm and selling it to Bank of America. [Reuters]
♦ Ken Griffin's Citadel is closing up shop in Tokyo. [Bloomberg]
♦ UBS may be planning to shed another 4,500 jobs. [DB]
♦ Sam Zell's…
♦ Yesterday's sell-off is expected to continue today. [WSJ]
♦ Even Goldman Sachs is cutting. The firm plans to cut 10 percent of its 32,000 employees. [WSJ]
♦ The glory days of hedge funds are over, as you're probably aware. [NYT]
♦ Credit Suisse reported a $1.08 billion loss during the third quarter. [DB]
♦ The…
♦ John Thain says he expects "thousands" of job cuts will follow Merrill Lynch's merger with Bank of America. [Bloomberg]
♦ Another day, another bailout: The Netherlands will inject $13.4 billion into ING. [WSJ]
♦ GM is having difficulty acquiring Chrysler because it can't come up with the financing. [WSJ]
