In a statement issued this afternoon, Ken Lewis, the embattled chief of Bank of America, said he would step down at the end of this year. Lewis, CEO and president, has been with the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank for 40 years. His retirement is effective December 31, 2009. The board will continue ongoing planning to ensure his successor is selected by that date. Lewis will retire as both CEO and as a director.
“Bank of America is well positioned to meet the continuing challenges of the economy and markets,” said Lewis. “I am particularly heartened by the results that are emerging from the decisions and initiatives of the difficult past year-and-a-half.”
“The Merrill Lynch and Countrywide integrations are on track and returning value already,” Lewis noted. “Our board of directors and our senior management include more talent, and more diversity of talent, than at any time in this company’s history. We are in position to begin to repay the federal government’s TARP investments. For these reasons, I decided now is the time to begin to transition to the next generation of leadership at Bank of America.”
“Ken Lewis was a key architect in building a truly global financial franchise,” said Walter E. Massey, chairman of the board of directors. “We are on a solid path to the future. The board will be moving in a deliberate and expeditious manner to select a worthy successor to Ken Lewis.”
On August 3, Lewis, 62, announced changes to his executive management committee that, according to BofA’s statement, increased the depth, range and diversity of experience of the leadership team. Lewis noted that “these changes also position a number of senior executives to compete to succeed me at the appropriate time.”
According to the New York Times Dealbook, possible successors to Lewis’ seat include former Wachovia head Robert K. Steel, current BofA small business head Brian Moynihan, former Citigroup CFO Sallie Krawcheck, and Tom Montag, who currently runs the bank’s corporate and investment banking unit.