He was the ultimate loyalist in many ways. He was parachuted in to do something about Bank of America's (BAC) investment banking operation. He was then essentially shoved aside in favor of John Thain, who was designated as the guy to run investment banking and trading after the Merrill Lynch deal. He was offered a job in Delaware, which he declined--this sealed his fate with then CEO Ken Lewis. Lewis announced Moynihan would be leaving, but he never left.

Then fate intervened. The bank decided to sack someone else so Moynihan could stay on as general counsel. The move almost backfired, as Congressmen made a lot of the incident at the recent hearings. Some thought Moynihan's performance harmed his chances, but look at him now: In the CEO's office. For that he can thank his buddy Chad Gifford, former CEO of FleetFinancial, who has emerged in the past year as Bank of America's most powerful director, according to the Financial Times. Truly, the Fleet contingent has conquered.

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