Merrill Lynch Names Margaret D. Tutwiler Head of Communications & Public Affairs

NEW YORK, December 11, 2007 — Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) today announced that Margaret D. Tutwiler has been appointed senior vice president and head of Global Communications & Public Affairs of the company, effective December 17. Ms. Tutwiler, 56, has been head of Global Communications and Government Relations for the NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and its predecessor company NYSE Group, Inc., since July 2004.

Ms. Tutwiler will report to John A. Thain, chairman and chief executive officer. As senior communications strategist, Ms. Tutwiler will assume responsibility for all external and internal communications activities. This includes: media and government relations; employee, business group, executive shareholder and public policy communications, corporate marketing and brand identity, and other related activities.

"I am very pleased to have Margaret Tutwiler join the management group at Merrill Lynch," Mr. Thain said. "We were fortunate to have her on the team at the NYSE when I was there and benefit from her successful efforts positioning the company on a global level. I know she will bring the same level of commitment, judgment and creativity to her new role at Merrill Lynch."

Ms. Tutwiler succeeds Jason H. Wright, who has been the company's head of Global Communications & Public Affairs since September 2003. Mr. Wright will remain with the company for the next few months as an advisor to senior management and to help in the transition.

"On behalf of the board and company, as well as myself, I want to extend a thank you to Jason Wright, who has supported all of us in myriad ways during his tenure at Merrill Lynch," Mr. Thain said. "His insight, energy and judgment provided invaluable strategic guidance to the company and management team. We wish him well in his new endeavors."

Prior to the NYSE Euronext Ms. Tutwiler was the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during 2003 to 2004. She had served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco from July 2001 until August 2003 and had served in the White House as Assistant to the President and special advisor for communications from January to June of 2001.

From 1995 to 2000, Ms. Tutwiler worked in the private sector, first as president of a public-relations firm, then as senior vice president for Public Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association in Washington, D.C.

Under the administration of President George H. W. Bush, Ms. Tutwiler served as the State Department Spokesman and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 1989 to 1992 and held the position of Assistant to the President for Communications from August 1992 until January 1993.

During Ronald Reagan's presidency, Ms. Tutwiler served as the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs from 1985 to 1989 and as Deputy Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and Special Assistant to the President in the White House office of the Chief of Staff from 1981 to 1985.

Ms. Tutwiler graduated from the University of Alabama. She has received several awards for public service and is the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Alabama Hall of Honor.

Before joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Wright was head of Worldwide Communications for Nabisco Group Holdings Corp. and its predecessor RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. since 1990. Following the sale of Nabisco in 2000, Mr. Wright was principal of his own firm, Geer Mountain Holdings, LLC, providing capital and advisory services to several companies in the business service and consumer products industries.

From 1982 to 1990, Mr. Wright worked at Aetna, Inc., and was director of corporate communications when he left the company.

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 38 countries and territories and total client assets of almost $2.0 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

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