Its hard to shake the disappointment associated with this weekend’s Times piece on Bank of Amerillwide– specifically, the graphic at left, which fails to pass the WWTPD (What Would The Post Do?) test. You know as well as I do that, at the very least, the Post would’ve had Lewis and Thain in a heart-shaped tub together, a ball gag off to the side for use later on, and an effete pinky sticking out of JT’s grip on a champagne flute, the implication being J to the T is the woman. Nevertheless, there are a couple points of interest.
First, that Thain, who according to emails among senior execs at Bank of America never asked for a $10 million bonus, actually floated the idea for him to get a $40 million bonus. But he just threw it out there mostly as a joke to see if it’d get any bites, knowing all along the stiffs at BAC would probably shoot it down (“An internal debate with Mr. Thain over his bonus ensued; a person familiar with Mr. Thain’s thinking said that a $40 million bonus was “never a subject of serious discussion.”)
And then there’s this:
Mr. Lewis, battered by analyst questions about the wisdom of the Merrill takeover, became disenchanted with Mr. Thain. In mid-January, he met with Mr. Thain at Merrill’s downtown headquarters. After a five-minute meeting, Mr. Thain was out.
Furious, Mr. Thain paced the halls of Merrill, venting his frustration to at least two people. “I don’t know how these people can run this company without me,” he told them.
What the Times doesn’t tell you is that, according to two sources, Mr Thain then went in to his locker, put on his singlet, and began shadow wrestling, calling out ‘Lewis!’ in a manner that made onlookers nervous for their safety, before being escorted from the building.
hah…classic BL post right there.
There’s that old saying – graveyards are filled with people who said that the world couldn’t get along without them.
Thain is ridiculous. He wants a $40 mil bonus, then when he is looked at incredulously, says “oh, just jokin’ man, can’t you take a joke?” and then goes down to $10 mil, all while taking government money and saying how great a person he is.
He came in. He sold the company when he had to. His argument is: I acted brilliantly in selling it, and thus deserve MORE tens of millions than I already got (and already doled out to his buds?).
I think the argument is: you did your job. You didn’t want to be a team player, and wanted to pack the new place with your expensive old crones. And you fired a ton of people and de-motivated the ones still there.
Fail.
Today’s the 7th? Why am I work? Now I got to get back home in time for GameDay. I knew it was a nightmare. No way the Horns are going to lose three in a row.
“I dream of a Merrill which is in peace with itself.”
- Half-Nelson Mandela
John Thain wears a merkin made out of C Gaspagool’s short and curlies.
What’s up with Ackman?
Everybody’s favorite horse in the News Corp. stable, the WSJ, says today that accoding to “a person familiar with the matter,” Bill Ackman is about to inform his investors that they’ll be allowed to withdraw from Pershing Square IV after all.
This is the Target-focused hedge fund.
The story quotes Ackman himself, “reached at his office Sunday night,” saying that PS IV is down 90% and that is nothing to be proud of. But the story doesn’t quote Ackman confirming the gist of the story, his supposed plan to reward the patient and pay off the impatint (with an infusion of $25 million of his personal cash).
Any DB hangers-on got any in with Bill or friends, and can confirm?
I get the feeling that Lewis would have enjoyed a little aggresive wrastling. Isn’t that how they do it in NC?
John Thain likes to hang out in locker rooms almost as much as the Gaspacino does. This makes me feel funny.
Lewis is all talk, and his talk is mostly bull shit. He has zero chance of pulling this thing out of it’s tailspin.
That picture most rank as the most prominent gay divorce illustration in history.
Ken.Lewis@BankofAmerica.gov
@10 hahah that cracks me up
#2- “The graveyards are full of indispensable men.” Charles DeGaulle
@11: comment of the day
I don’t buy the whole Thain didn’t ask for $10MM. First, that e-mail was from Steele at BofA to two people that worked for Thain. He says in the e-mail that BofA understands what happened. Maybe they understood the story Merrill gave them. The people at BofA weren’t in the room. Also, probably, neither was Montag and the HR lady.
I really like the idea of JT hitting the mats.It’s a cross between Vision Quest and Brando…good going Bessie!
@15 – Andrea Smith is the BAC head of HR. She reports to Steele.