Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [309]
having heard him repeatedly say, “We have plenty of capital”: On March 8, 2008, Thain told France’s Le Figaro: “Today I can say that we will not need additional funds. These problems are behind us. We will not return to the market.” To the Japanese Nikkei Report on April 3, he said: “We have plenty of capital going forward, and we don’t need to come back into the equity market.” At a news conference in Mumbai on May 7: “We have no present intention of raising any more capital.” See Nick Antonovics, “Merrill CEO Says Won’t Need More Capital,” Reuters, March 8, 2008; “Full Text of Interview with Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain,” Nikkei Report, April 4, 2008; John Satish Kumar, “Credit Crunch: Merrill’s Thain Backs Auction-Rate Securities,” Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2008.
“as the most vulnerable brokerage after Lehman”: Reinhardt Krause, “Lehman Bros. Extends Slide As Wall St. Doubts Future,” Investor’s Business Daily, June 13, 2008.
For a single day John Thain had the job he had wanted for his entire career: Kassenaar and Onaran, “Merrill’s Repairman,” Bloomberg Markets. Craig Horowitz, “The Deal He Made,” New York, July 10, 2005.
At Robert Hurst’s Fifth Avenue apartment: Ellis, The Partnership, 613.
Corzine off skiing in Telluride, Colorado: Ibid.
Thain, longtime lieutenant and friend of Corzine: Ibid. Corzine had long been an ally of Thain’s, helping him secure the chief financial officer job in 1994 and later a spot on the executive committee. They went skiing together in Colorado and dined out with their wives in Manhattan. Thain was the trustee-designate for the Corzines’ children’s trusts. See also Noam Scheiber, “The Brain in Thain,” New York, January 8, 2007.
Thain was the one to have to break the news to him: Ibid.
“Jon has decided to relinquish the CEO title”: Ibid.
accumulating several hundred million dollars in stock from the IPO: After Goldman’s IPO, Thain’s 3.1 million shares were worth about $171 million. Kimberly Seals McDonald, “Goldman’s Bounty—Top Execs Will Pocket Up to $869m in IPO,” New York Post, April 13, 1999; Erica Copulsky, “Goldman Notifies Top Non-partners of Payout Formulas,” Investment Dealers Digest, May 3, 1999.
he bought a ten-acre property in Rye: Charlie Gasparino, “John Thain’s $87,000 Rug,” The Daily Beast, January 22, 2009.
determined to take a two-week trip to Vail at Christmastime: Susanne Craig and Dan Fitzpatrick, “Merrill Architects Criticized,” Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2009.
he took Thain out to dinner: Ellis, The Partnership, 660.
which he found at the New York Stock Exchange: While Thain’s NYSE appointment was confirmed on December 18, 2003, his first day was not until January 15, 2004. “Recap of Stories on NYSE Naming Goldman’s Thain As CEO,” Dow Jones, December 18, 2003.
was paid a $15 million signing bonus: Cardiff de Alejo Garcia, “Financial News: Thain to Get Up to $11M from Restricted Shares,” Dow Jones, September 16, 2008.
raised $12.8 or billion from the sovereign wealth funds: Other investors in this group include Japan’s Mizuho bank group and the Korea Investment Corp. Jed Horowitz, “Merrill Seeks Intl Investments for Itself, Clients: Pres,” Dow Jones, February 6, 2008.
He also went about slashing costs: Susanne Craig, “The Weekend That Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2008.
flowers costing Lehman some $200,000: Ibid.
a signing bonus of $39.4 billion, even though Montag wouldn’t begin work: An SEC filing revealed that in addition to Montag’s $600,000 annual salary, Merrill agreed to pay him a bonus of $39.4 million in cash and stock-based compensation for fiscal year 2008, which he would receive in January 2009. “Merrill Lynch to Pay New EVP Montag $600,000 Salary,” Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert, May 2, 2008.
Thain would hire Peter Kraus: Kevin Kingsbury, “Kraus the Latest Ex-Goldman Hire at Merrill,” Dow Jones, May 5, 2008; Heidi N. Moore, “Merrill’s Kraus Gets $25M, Then Leaves,” Dow Jones, December 22, 2008.
And then there was his office: Charlie Gasparino, “John Thain’s $87,000