Man in the middle: Ken Lewis

The CEO of Bank of America is not shy about laying big bets, despite the conservative image he wants for his bank. People have been saying for a while now that the Countrywide deal would be his legacy. Now it appears that the Merrill Lynch deal will be. Lewis is buying on the dips, not unlike so many discredited value investors. The result is that he's suddenly running a financial service behemoth. Did he overpay? He says no. The bank is paying about 1.8 times book value. Indeed, the crisis created a golden opportunity to get the Thundering Herd cheap. Merrill, of course, is in no position to bargain. Lewis also wanted to cement a deal and not have to worry about another bidder. But Bank of America is hardly in the clear. Still, Merrill's big deal with Lone Star may pave the way for a successful integration, which Bank of America has done so well in the past. 

For more:
- here's a Fortune article
- here's a New York Times article

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