You knew this was coming. In hindsight, it seems remarkable that the CEO of Bank of America hung on as long as he did. Ken Lewis was a celebrated executive for most of his career, a Banker of the Year, even as the ship was taking on water. He built his reputation on deals. In the end, the Merrill Lynch acquisition proved to be one deal too many. It broke him. Interestingly, this was not driven by federal officials or the board. He informed them by conference call, reports the New York Times.

Surely, Lewis saw the writing on the wall. A lot of people had lost confidence in him, and the board would have to deal with the issue sooner rather than later. Lewis will not receive severance pay but might collect pension benefits worth $53.2 million from a retirement program that was frozen in 2003, the Times reports. Lewis also has more than $80 million in stock and other compensation that he accumulated. So let the guessing game begin: Who will lead Bank of America next? Robert Steel has been mentioned. 

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