Big payday for exiting Merrill Lynch CEO
Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal faces a probable resignation this morning after the company's biggest quarterly profit lose in its 93-year history. But Steve Henn reports he's not going to walk away empty-handed.
Stan O'Neal, CEO and president of Merrill Lynch (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Scott Jagow: There's a good chance the CEO of Merrill Lynch will resign this morning -- or be fired. Stan O'Neal would become the highest-ranking job casualty of this Wall Street credit mess.
Last week, Merrill Lynch turned in the biggest quarterly loss of its 93-year history, thanks to bad investments in mortgage-backed securities called SIVs. So, O'Neal's gonna pay the price for that. Kind of. Here's Steve Henn.
Steve Henn: It's good to be king, but it may be even better to be the deposed CEO of a big Wall Street investment house.
Stanley O'Neal wiped out billions of dollars in shareholder equity and then began negotiations for a major merger with a rival bank without first getting the go-ahead from his board of directors.
Nonetheless, O'Neal could be on the verge of a big, fat payday.
James Reda: He's gonna walk away with about $150 million.
Minimum.
James Reda runs a compensation consulting firm, and analyzed O'Neal's contract. Reda says Merrill's board could also allow O'Neal to keep his stock options.
Reda: That could be worth $40 [million], $50 million right there.
O'Neal took home $48 million last year -- which means getting canned could triple or even quadruple his income.
In Washington, I'm Steve Henn for Marketplace.
