Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [310]
angling for the Treasury Secretary post if John McCain: Louise Story and Julie Creswell, “Love Was Blind,” New York Times, February 8, 2009.
“It’s kind of ‘Raise as you go’” Fair Disclosure Wire, June 11, 2008.
Thain and O’Neal Breakfast: During breakfast between John Thain and Stan O’Neal, Thain pressed him to give him some guidance about his views on the management team. O’Neal replied, “The only person you ought to watch out for is Bob McCann.” McCann was the head of the firm’s brokerage business and the two had a long-standing mutual distrust.
Merrill’s $27 billion in CDO and subprime: In November 2007, Merrill announced that its total exposure to subprime mortgages and collateralized debt organization was $27.2 billion. UBS analyst Glenn Schorr said that hiring Thain “doesn’t change the fact that Merrill has $27 billion of CDO/subprime exposure and is likely facing further write-downs in the near term.” “Thain to the Rescue,” Investment Dealers Digest, November 19, 2007.
[O’Neal rise]: John Cassidy, “Subprime Suspect: The Rise and Fall of Wall Street’s First Black C.E.O,” New Yorker, March 31, 2008; David Rynecki, “Can Stan O’Neal Save Merrill?” Fortune, September 30, 2002.
Merrill’s beginnings, Wheaties, “Bullish on America”: “Charles Merrill, Broker, Dies, Founder of Merrill Lynch Firm,” New York Times, October 7, 1956; “Advertising: Jackpot,” Time, August 20, 1951; Joseph Nocera, “Charles Merrill,” Time, December 7, 1998; Suzanne Woolley, “A New Bull at Merrill Lynch,” Money, March 1, 2002; Helen Avery, “Merrill Shrugs Off the Herd Mentality,” Euromoney, August 1, 2004.
“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