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“I think this is a great firm”: Charles Gasparino, “Bull by the Horns,” Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2001.
“Ruthless, O’Neal would tell associates, isn’t always that bad”: David Rynecki, “Putting the Muscle Back in the Bull,” Fortune, April 5, 2004.
O’Neal’s top management team as “the Taliban” and calling O’Neal “Mullah Omar”: Ibid.
acquired one of the biggest subprime mortgages in the nation, First Franklin: Erick Bergquist, “Merrill Wins Bidding for First Franklin,” American Banker, September 6, 2006.
left Merrill in February 2006: Avital Hahn, “Leading CDO Team Breaks into Two; Ricciardi Joins Cohen Brothers as CEO,” Investment Dealers Digest, February 27, 2006.
“whatever it takes”: Kim, as three people heard and remembered him saying. Serena Ng and Carrick Mollenkamp, “Merrill Takes $8.4 Billion Credit Hit,” Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2007.
replaced by thirty-nine-year-old executive Osman Semerci: Bradley Keoun, “Merrill Names Semerci, D’Souza to Run FICC, Equities,” Bloomberg, July 25, 2006.
Kim took home $37 million: SEC filing disclosed a $14.45 million cash bonus and a $22.2 million stock incentive bonus, in addition to his salary of $350,000. See Nicolas Brulliard, “Merrill Lynch Exec VP Fleming Gets $20.4M Stk Bonus,” Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert, January 24, 2007.
Semerci, more than $20 million: Louise Story, “Bonuses Soared on Wall Street Even as Earnings Were Starting to Crumble,” New York Times, December 19, 2008.
Fleming and Fakahany sent a letter to Merrill’s directors: Cassidy, “Subprime Suspect,” New Yorker.
O’Neal sent an overture to Wachovia about a merger: Jenny Anderson and Landon Thomas Jr., “Merrill’s Chief Is Said to Float a Bid to Merge,” New York Times, October 26, 2007.
“I wouldn’t hire Stan to wash windows”: Cassidy, “Subprime Suspect,” New Yorker.
CHAPTER EIGHT
remained close in the decade since Dimon had been forced out: Regarding Citigroup, Dimon told New York magazine: “I left ten years ago…. No, I didn’t leave, I was fired. I was kicked out of the nest.” Duff McDonald, “The Heist,” New York, March 24, 2008.
A glass cabinet displayed replicas of two wood-handled pistols: “Replicas of the famous pistols are displayed in the JPMorgan lobby, while the originals—curious icons of the bank’s storied past—are displayed on the executive floor.” Crisafulli, The House of Dimon, 7.
Like Dimon, Willumstad had been outmaneuvered by Weill: He announced his departure in July but didn’t officially step down until September 5, 2005. David Enrich, “Citigroup Pres Willumstad to Step Down in Sept,” Dow Jones, July 14, 2005.
His partner, Marge Magner, was another Citi exile: With Citigroup since 1987, Magner had most recently been chairman and CEO of the company’s Global Consumer Group. Mark McSherry and Jonathan Stempel, “Citigroup’s Consumer Chief Magner to Leave,” Reuters, August 22, 2005.
Brysam Global Partners: Brysam began business at the end of January 2007. “Willumstad and Magner Establish Private Equity Firm that Will Focus on Financial Services Investments in Emerging Markets,” Business Wire, January 22, 2007.
He was the chairman of the board of American International Group: Willumstad first joined AIG’s board as a director in early 2006. Later that year Frank Zarb, acting as interim chairman, suggested him for the job. Emily Thornton and Jena McGregor, “A Tepid Welcome for AIG’s New Boss,” BusinessWeek, June 30, 2008.
Joining Weill two decades ago: Willumstad began at Weill’s Commercial Credit in 1987. Francesco Guerrera, “Quiet Giant Confronts a Colossal Challenge,” Financial Times, September 17, 2008.
Willumstad’s beginnings: Lynnley Browning, “A Quiet Banker in a Big Shadow,” New York Times, March 10, 2002.
at a conference in Boca Raton: Gillian Tett, “The Dream Machine,” Financial Times, March 25, 2008.
blitzkrieg of acquisitions: Commercial Credit acquired Primerica, Shearson, and Travelers in 1993, Aetna’s property and casualty business in 1996, Salomon Brothers in 1997, culminating with Citigroup