Merrill Names Thain to Succeed O'Neal

Merrill Lynch today announced that former President and COO of Goldman Sachs John Thain has been named chairman and CEO of the company, effective December 1.

The move comes not three weeks after former Chairman and CEO Stanley O’Neal resigned the company with a hefty exit package of $160 million.  BlackRock CEO Laurence D. Fink was previously considered the top candidate to succeed O’Neal, but he will remain in his chair at the company now that Thain has decided to take the head seat at Merrill.

“John Thain is the right person to become the new chairman and CEO,” Alberto Cribiore, Merrill’s interim non-executive chairman and chairman of the company’s search committee, said in a statement. “He brings unparalleled leadership experience and knowledge of the complexities of global capital markets as well as the skills required to operate a large financial services company.”

Thain, who is CEO, director, and member of the management committee of NYSE Euronext Inc., joined the NYSE in 2004, serving as CEO and director.  Currently, he is a member of the MIT Corporation, the Dean’s Advisory Council – MIT/Sloan School of Management, INSEAD – U.S. National Advisory Board, the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s International capital Markets Advisory Committee.

“I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to lead such an outstanding organization,” Thain said in a statement.  “I look forward to working with an incredibly talented group of people with a terrific brand and reputation.”