John Thain hits back at Ken Lewis

The parting of ways between Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, and John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch is getting ugly. Thain has gone on CNBC to say pretty directly that Ken Lewis knew about the problems at Merrill Lynch, which just resulted in a massive loss. Bank of America executives deny that characterization, saying that Thain's loss estimate was much less than what was subsequently reported. That may be true, but the burden really is on Ken Lewis. Either way, it looks like he didn't do his homework. 

Bank of America is also putting out the word that it had "no legal basis" to challenge the bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch execs as the ship was sinking. Again, this makes Bank of America look bad. Thain also said he would pay back the $1.2 million--which included a $35,000 toilet--that he used in renovate his office.

For more:
- here's the CNBC article    
- here's Thain's memo defending the deal

Related Articles:
Ken Lewis news from FierceFinance
John Thain news from FierceFinance

Post a comment