Thain Gets Testy As Merrill Writes Down Another $9.75bn
More in BUSINESS NEWS
back-up- Click Here To Register For Free News E-Mail Alerts
- The 2008 Best CTO / CIO Poll - Last Week
- 'I Am Bonus' - A Necessity For Naturally Indolent People
- It Could Be Worse - You Could Be In Recruitment
- The Best Firms For Graduate Recruitment & Development Are
- BofA, Lehman, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Hank Paulson, AIG
- Funny Caption Competition
- Wachovia Staff Memo On Confirmation Of Wells Fargo Deal
- Credit Suisse, RBS, SocGen, Dexia, Kaupthing
- Global Debt & Equity League Tables - Year To Date
- Staff From 16 Firms Already Nominated For 'Rising Stars'
- Featured Recruiter - Martin Ward Anderson
- 'There Was Nothing Special About Our Firm' - Letter From A Lehman Staffer
- Firm Said To Be Cutting 20% Of Investment Banking Staff
- Pandit Does His 'Nut'
- Roll Up For A Session Of 'Bailout Bingo'
- 'On Top Of Everything Else, Now I'll Get No Severance'
- UK Treasury Statement On Bank Financial Support Plan
- Layoffs - The Definitive Job Loss League Table (The Very Latest)
- 'Their Staff...Were Making A Lot More (Than Ours). That Won't Last'
- The So-Called 'Greedy' Lehman Bonus E-Mail
- CenterFuld - Lehman Boss In The Dock
- M&A - Top Dogs Around The World
- An Oldie, But Goodie During These Difficult Times
- Richard Fuld's Statement To The Congressional Committee (In Full)
- Citi Sues Over Wachovia - For $60bn!
- Fear Not, There Are Jobs Out There
- If Your Firm Was A Monopoly Property.....
- 'Never Mind Your Bonus' - The First Here Is The City Book
- Top Firm Accused Of Bringing Down Lehman
- Top Boss Says Bonuses Will Be 'Solid', But 'Smaller'
- Hedge Fund Makes Single $2.5bn Winning Trade
- 'This Was As Cogent A Case Of Murder As Might Be Imagined'
- 'This Hodge-Podge Of Regulations...(Will) Put Many (Banks) Off Participating'
- Wacha-Gotcha-Notcha-ovia - Bun Fight For Wachovia
- Top Worldwide M&A Legal Advisors - Year To Date
- Citigroup Threatens Legal Action Over Wachovia (Citi Statement)
- Wells Fargo Press Release On The Wachovia 'Acquisition'
- Out Of A Job, Out Of Pocket & Out For Blood
- 'In The Land Of The Laid-Off, The Hiring Firm Is King'
- UBS Confirms 2,000 Job Losses / Closure Of Commodities Unit
- A Wall Street Funny
- Worldwide M&A League Table - Year To Date
- Super Hedge Fund Manager Continues To Defy The Odds
- Fuld, Thain, BNP, SocGen, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Shorts
- 'My Firm Will Never Fire Me. I'm Untouchable!'
- 'I Felt Sick When I Saw Them Taking Down The Lehman Signage'
- More Writedowns Expected, Hedge Funds Suffer
- 'We Need A Reality Check'
- 'There Is Only One End To The World, And This Isn't It'
Related Content
- Pandit Writes While Lehman Burns (15/09/2008)
- Pandit Or Thain - Who's Doing The Best Job ? (21/07/2008)
- 'We Will Survive' - The John Thain Asset Writedown Song (31/07/2008)
- Fuld, Thain, BNP, SocGen, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Shorts (02/10/2008)
- Merrill Lynch - It's Over Too (14/09/2008)
- Did The Merrill Lynch Merger Really Need To Happen ? (25/09/2008)
And, by and large, he has done just that. His one big mistake, however, came a few months back, when he indicated that Merrill was probably on the mend and wouldn't need to raise additional capital to beef up its balance sheet. Thain clearly spoke too soon, as additional funds have subsequently been raised from investors and further assets have been sold.
Despite the $9.75bn in second-quarter writedowns announced Thursday (which resulted in a Q2 net loss of $4.65bn), Thain retains the general support of the investment community for the job he is doing at Merrill. His halo has slipped a little of late, however, and things got a little testy at one point during the Merrill earnings call yesterday. According to The New York Times, when responding to a query from an analyst on the firm's exposure to CDOs, Thain responded: 'First, of all, I take exception to the 'you guys' comment. I did not create these CDOs'. No, John, but you have been valuing them for the last 8 months. The New York Post also has Thain saying (in, no doubt, best Basil Fawlty-style: 'You guys, you guys. These are legacy problems'.
No-one cares anymore who was responsible for the mess Merrill Lynch finds itself in, but Thain is responsible for clearing it up (and being well-rewarded for that too). Thain needs to realise that there are no 'you guys' anymore, or 'legacy problems'. After 8 months, there are only 'us guys' and it is his 'legacy' that he is dealing with now. He needs to continue to lead by focusing on the future, rather than getting defensive about the past.
'Please use the 'E-Mail' button immediately under the article title to send this item to a friend.
