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Bank of America CEO to Pack It In at Year’s End

AP / Susan Walsh

So long, Mr. Lewis: Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis prepares to testify on Capitol Hill before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last June 11.

Another head of another big bank is rolling ... all the way out the door. On Wednesday, Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis made the startling announcement that he was opting to take early retirement, effective the last day of this calendar year. —KA

The New York Times:

Mr. Lewis, 62, has been under immense pressure since the bank merged with Merrill Lynch at the height of the financial crisis. The deal, which capped a string of bold acquisitions he used to forge Bank of America into the nation’s largest bank, quickly created one headache after another, though Merrill’s units are performing well now.

Some have defended Mr. Lewis, saying that while he was initially eager to snap up Merrill, he was given little choice by federal regulators when they urged him to move forward with the deal even when Merrill’s losses turned out to be larger than first thought. Mr. Lewis has defended the merger as strategically important to the long-term health of Bank of America and has said the deal is already paying off in improved operating profit.

But shortly after the merger was sealed, shareholders began questioning whether Mr. Lewis paid too much for Merrill. The merger pushed the bank toward a second bailout from the government soon after its completion, upsetting many who worried about leaning on a $45 billion taxpayer lifeline, and who saw the value of their shares evaporate. In the spring, they voted to strip Mr. Lewis of his chairmanship.

[...] Mr. Lewis began thinking about retiring while he was on vacation in Aspen, Colo., in late August, according to the sources briefed on his decision. He surprised colleagues when he returned to work sporting a beard, something no one could remember him doing in decades.

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TAGS: aig bailout bank of america bofa ken lewis merrill lynch retirement securities and exchange commission wall street

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By RAE, October 2 at 8:53 am #

I was going to write a comment about how profoundly obscene is our capitalism-gone-mad system but why be redundant? We all know we’re being screwed by the 1% whose cunning and greed run everything.

There’s nothing I can offer that will change one damn thing. I can only hope that when the REAL crash comes that takes the 1% out PERMANENTLY, and it will, that the other 99% of us don’t get too badly smashed up in the process.

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By don knutsen, October 1 at 4:20 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I WONDER HOW MANY AMERICANS COULD RETIRE VERY COMFORTABLY ON THE PACKAGE HE WILL BE WALKING AWAY WITH, NOT TO MENTION THE MILLIONS ALREADY SOCKED AWAY. THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING WORTH NOTING TO HELP PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE ALITTLE BIT. IT HELPS US ALL APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF SCREWING WERE ALL ENJOYING BETTER. THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SOAKING US ALL WITH THEIR ASTONISHING LEVEL OF GREED AND ARE HAPPILY RETIRING TO ANY NUMBER OF ESTATES, AFTER ONLY BRIEF STINTS AT THE HELM BECAUSE IT WAS SO FUCKING LUCRATIVE. THE REWARDS OF UNRESTRAINED CAPITALISM. I SUPPOSE HE’LL BE TAKING HIS SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK TOO ?

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By Fat Freddy, October 1 at 7:56 am #

Poor man. How can he get by with such a paltry retirement?

Don’t forget, he can also collect Social Security on top of everything else.

Every time I see him on the news, or whatever, he has that deer in the headlights look. Either that or the look of the guy that fumbled the ball on the 1 yard line and lost the Superbowl.

ardee’s right. They are like drug dealers. You arrest one, and there’s a dozen waiting to take his place. Lewis didn’t do anything that everybody else wasn’t doing, or willing to do. BoA, Citi, and Wells all need to go down and be recycled into the smaller banks. At this point, regulation and leadership of these banks is irrelevant.

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By ardee, October 1 at 6:17 am #

132 million should cushion his fall I would think. It isnt the individual it is the system that is sick, and it wont be cured by installing the next guy in the big office.

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By G.Anderson, October 1 at 12:26 am #

So? I’m sure there are dozen’s of clones, that can walk into his job without missing a beat..

Men who have the same values, and probably even think the same exact thoughts.

That’s all we’ll ever get…

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By ocjim, September 30 at 11:54 pm #

Mr. Lewis is not entitled to severance pay but stands to collect pension benefits worth $53.2 million, largely from a retirement program that was frozen in 2003, according to an analysis of corporate filings by James F. Reda & Associates, an independent consulting firm. Mr. Lewis also will walk away with $81.8 million in stock and other compensation that he accumulated over his career, the analysis found.

Poor man. How can he get by with such a paltry retirement?

It’s time to kick out all of the Wall Street exploiters who still give bonuses, grossly unmindful of the millions unemployed and millions more underpaid.

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