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Former Merrill CEO John Thain Surprised by Firing
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 26, 2009
Modified Jan 26, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 26, 2009
Modified Jan 26, 2009
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Fired Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is going on the offensive, claiming that Bank of America knew that he and other ML execs were giving out $15 billion in bonuses, not to mention BoA knew Merrill was losing $15 billion during the 4th quarter. But did BoA, which announced it was taking over Merrill in September, know about his $1 million office decorating account? Oh, Thain claims that was a mistake. Clusterstock has the leaked memo Thain sent to ML employees—"We were completely transparent with Bank of America. They learned about these losses when we did."—and CNBC will broadcast an interview with Thain at 4:15 p.m. BoA, which is getting $45 billion in TARP money, tells CNBC that Thain and Merrill's "compensation committee made the decision on the amount and timing of year-end compensation. We had no legal right to challenge it."
Tagged
bailout
Bank of America
corporate welfare
John Thain
Merrill Lynch
tarp
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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