John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, was one of many whose reputations were tarnished by the credit crunch. In his case, the fall wasn't exactly epic, but it was steep and personally painful.

When he took over as CEO of Merrill Lynch after a strong stint at the NYSE, he was widely seen as the right guy for the job. But then came the crisis, the Bank of America deal and finally Ken Lewis's decision to fire him. Thain, however, is coming out swinging now, taking issue at the Reuters' financial summit with the New York Times reporting that he angrily threw a chair and smashed a window. He also said he never accelerated those controversial Merrill Lynch bonus payments, something that had been widely reported.

After a year of rest and relaxation, he's looking for a new job in the private equity industry, or with a public company. It's fair to say he's not going to be running Bank of America.

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