John Thain

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Check Out Mansions of Bigwig Bankers

(Newser) - It's not been the best of years for the titans of Wall Street: a few federal bailouts, a housing collapse, and now a Ponzi scheme of mind-boggling proportions can do that. "Where did all that money go?" wonders the website wowOwow.com. And it has a partial answer: Straight...

Merrill CEO Backs Off $10M Bonus Request

Wall Street climate pressures Thain to forgo year-end check

(Newser) - Under a wave of criticism, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain today gave up asking for a $5-to-$10 million bonus, the Wall Street Journal reports. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called the request "nothing less than shocking" during an "abysmal year" in which Merrill lost $11 billion. Thain...

Merrill Boss Seeks $10M Bonus

Directors unlikely to comply given public sentiment

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch narrowly escaped extinction this fall, and CEO John Thain is seeking an end-of-year bonus of as much as $10 million for keeping the company alive, reports the Wall Street Journal. Merrill's board of directors—acutely aware of public scrutiny—appear unlikely to fork over that kind of package...

Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%
 Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50% 
Dec 3, 2008 7:35 AM CST

Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%

Still facing the fallout from the sub-prime meltdown, the firm slashes pay for 60,900 employees

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch, facing losses of $13.3 billion this year and with revenues off 96% from a year ago, will slash year-end bonuses at least 50%, Bloomberg reports. Some employees may face steeper cuts. Merrill and Bank of America, which agreed to acquire the failing investment bank earlier this year,...

Washington Wants to Know Who Replaces Hank
Washington Wants to Know Who Replaces Hank
ANALYSIS
Sep 25, 2008 11:43 AM CDT

Washington Wants to Know Who Replaces Hank

Successor for Treasury Secretary a major question in bailout debate

(Newser) - With the Treasury Secretary looking to get $700 billion to spend on the bailout, Washington is starting to focus on who might replace Henry Paulson when a new administration takes over in January, the Post reports. Neither candidate has given in to requests for names, but speculation has centered on...

Who's Who: The Players Remaking Wall St.

(Newser) - The financial world has been rocked to its foundations in a few short days, with a handful of men making momentous decisions. The Wall Street Journal outlines the key players.
  • Henry Paulson. No Treasury chief has wielded such power. He decides whether big firms live or die via federal bailouts.
...

Thain Made Most of Merrill's Ugly Position
Thain Made
Most of Merrill's Ugly Position
ANALYSIS
Sep 16, 2008 2:34 PM CDT

Thain Made Most of Merrill's Ugly Position

CEO proved wiser than Wall St. colleagues, has $50B to show for it

(Newser) - As the credit market self-destructed, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers faced similar problems. The difference, Henry Blodget writes in Slate, is that Merrill’s John Thain played his cards right, and Lehman’s Dick Fuld didn’t. Brought in to clean house after Stan O’Neal’s high-risk strategy exploded,...

3 More Wall Street Firms Agree to Buy Back Securities

Settlement reached after auction-rate securities market collapse

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have agreed to a settlement with New York's attorney general and other state regulators to buy back $14.5 billion of now worthless auction-rate securities. The brokerages will also pay $162 million in fines to settle charges that they misled investors into thinking...

Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market
Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market
analysis
Aug 1, 2008 10:30 AM CDT

Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market

Once regaled for cavalier confidence, CEO's chief cuts losses

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain has seen better days, Floyd Norris writes in the New York Times. He's gone from “cockiness to capitulation. Distinction to desperation.” Thain recently unloaded a bundle of his company’s securities for 22 cents on the dollar and raised $8.5 billion from...

Merrill Lynch Posts Steep Q1 Loss
Merrill Lynch
Posts Steep
Q1 Loss
Apr 17, 2008 7:25 AM CDT

Merrill Lynch Posts Steep Q1 Loss

$9B in writedowns guts brokerage's earnings

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch today posted nearly $2 billion in losses in the first quarter, after taking another $9 billion in writeoffs, the Wall Street Journal reports. In its third straight quarterly loss, Merrill was in the red $1.96 billion, or $2.19 a share, compared to earning $2.16 billion,...

Merrill Braces for $6B-$8B in New Writedowns

Subprime woes mean unprecedented third consecutive losing quarter for brokerage

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch is likely to report another $6 billion to $8 billion in writedowns related to the subprime collapse tomorrow, leading to a third consecutive quarterly loss, the Wall Street Journal reports. Merrill’s chronic mortgage losses—$30 billion and counting—show just how deep the world's largest brokerage is...

Another Head Rolls at Merrill Lynch
Another Head Rolls at
Merrill Lynch
Jan 28, 2008 3:55 PM CST

Another Head Rolls at Merrill Lynch

Co-president will step down in wake of huge subprime losses

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch co-president Ahmass Fakahany will step down after subprime mortgages led to a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter loss, the firm said today. Fakahany is at least the third exec from Stan O'Neal's team to leave since John Thain took over as CEO, reports Bloomberg. Thain replaced O'Neal in October...

World Money Chief Calls for Global Action

IMF head foresees widespread slowdown, backs US stimulus

(Newser) - With a global recession looming, the head of the IMF has warned bankers meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that lower interest rates alone won’t avert a crisis, the Financial Times reports. Dominique Strauss-Kahn called on governments to follow the US in easing fiscal policies, reversing a quarter-century of emphasis on...

Merrill's $15B Write-Down Nearly Doubles Estimate

Latest loss, driven by mortgage woes, dwarfs original figure

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch will announce $15 billion in losses stemming from mortgage investments, figure twice its earlier forecast, the New York Times reports. The firm is expected to raise $4 billion quickly from outside investors. New CEO John Thain, who has already sold a $5.6 billion stake to a Singapore...

Computers Thin Ranks of NYSE Floor Traders

Iconic backdrop 'dead' as shares trade electronically

(Newser) - The famously frenetic NYSE trading floor is rapidly becoming history as more efficient computer trading replaces human traders. With most of the exchange's trading rooms shuttered, only two trading halls stay open to the 1,500 remaining traders, whose numbers are dwindling, AFP reports. "The floor as we knew...

Dow Up After Roller-Coaster Day
Dow Up After Roller-Coaster Day
MARKETS
Nov 16, 2007 3:44 PM CST

Dow Up After Roller-Coaster Day

Bad news doesn't halt rally; markets end week up

(Newser) - The major indexes closed up today after erratic trading as bad news on industrial production and new negative forecasts failed to halt an end-of-week rally. The Dow gained 66.74 to 13,176.79, the Nasdaq climbed 18.73 to 2,637.24, and the S&P 500 closed at...

In Thain, Merrill Picks CEO as Risk Manager

Chosen for steady hand in unsteady times

(Newser) - The choice of NYSE's John Thain as Merrill Lynch's new CEO signals a focus on a new kind of manager for the financial giant, the Wall Street Journal observes: a strong risk manager. A low-key, detail-oriented veteran, Thain resembles the top execs of the firms least damaged by the subprime...

Niederauer Will Succeed Thain at Big Board

Current COO has been with NYSE only a few months

(Newser) - Duncan Niederaurer, current co-COO and president of the New York Stock Exchange, is poised to replace John Thain as CEO of the Big Board, reports the Wall Street Journal.  Thain is expected to be named CEO of Merrill Lynch, replacing the departing Stan O'Neal. NYSE is expected to make...

John Thain to Be Merrill CEO
John Thain to Be Merrill CEO
Nov 14, 2007 12:18 PM CST

John Thain to Be Merrill CEO

Former Goldman honcho took the NYSE public

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch will name NYSE chief John Thain as its CEO as soon as today, an insider tells the Wall Street Journal. The former Goldman Sachs president, on Merrill’s shortlist since Stan O'Neal was shown the door two weeks ago, was also under consideration for Citigroup’s top post....

Merrill Lynch Sizes Up Potential CEOs

With O'Neal headed for exit, list of possible successors grows

(Newser) - With Stan O'Neal all but ousted after an $8.4 billion writedown mostly on subprime loans and an overture to Wachovia, Merrill Lynch is on the hunt for a new chairman and CEO. Candidates include BlackRock's Larry Fink, NYSE Euronext's John Thain, and in-house contender Robert McCann, Reuters reports. Sources...

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