What Private Equity Looks For When Hiring A CEO

Check out Tennille Tracy's post on today's WSJ's Deal Journal. Tracy gets advice from a private equity player on what they look for when hiring a CEO. The piece was developed in light of Stanley O'Neal's resignation as CEO of Merrill and the fact that Merrill made Alberto Cribiore, a private equity veteran, Merrill's acting CEO. Criobiore is expected to play a key role in the CEO search and hiring process. Check it out.

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Business Week Management IQ
New York Times

CEO Watch - Stanley O'Neal, Merrill Lynch Update 3

It's official, Stanley O'Neal has retired from Merrill. According to this morning's press release from the firm,

Stan O'Neal, chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER), has decided to retire from the company effective immediately, the company announced today. Mr. O'Neal has been chief executive officer of the company since December 2002 and joined the company 21 years ago. The company said the board of directors has elected Alberto Cribiore as interim non-executive chairman.

Merrill Lynch said Mr. Cribiore, who has been a member of the Merrill Lynch board since 2003, also will chair a search committee that will identify and evaluate chief executive candidates from within and outside of the company. Mr. Cribiore is managing partner and founder of Brera Capital, a global private equity firm, and former president of private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice.

In what might be viewed as a bit of a surprise, Cribiore said that Ahmass Fakahany and Gregory Fleming would continue as co-presidents and chief operating officers. Fleming is considered one of the possible successors to O'Neal but Fakahany has been directly linked with O'Neal and the risk problems Merrill has been facing. It has been surmised by some that Fakahany could be next.

Mr. Cribiore said that Ahmass Fakahany and Gregory Fleming will continue as Merrill Lynch co-presidents and chief operating officers. He further noted that Mr. Fakahany will lead the company's global support, finance and human resources functions and that Mr. Fleming will lead the integrated businesses of Merrill Lynch & Co., including risk management.

We just have to wait to see how this really plays out over the next few weeks and months.

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BrightCove TV
New York Times
Financial News
TimesOnline UK
Bloomberg
Market Watch
Yahoo
TheStreet
International Herald Tribune
Washington Post
LA Times

CEO Watch -Stanley O'Neal, Merrill Lynch Update 2

It's nearly official, O'Neal has decided he will leave Merrill. According to a piece by Chris Dolmetsch and Bradley Keoun of Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal reported,

Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer Stan O'Neal has decided to leave the company, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.

An announcement may come later today or tomorrow morning. The company's board will look inside the New York-based firm as well as outside for a replacement, the newspaper said, citing the unidentified person.

Landon Thomas, Jr. and Jenny Anderson of the New York Times have remained on top of the story from the beginning and in their latest piece in The International Herald Tribune discussed what the board was up to over the weekend.

Having decided O'Neal should leave, Merrill Lynch directors met throughout the weekend to figure out who should succeed him. One possible course being considered is that Laurence Fink, the head of the asset management firm BlackRock, which is 49 percent owned by Merrill Lynch, would become chief executive with Robert McCann, the head of the brokerage unit, and Gregory Fleming, the current president, as co-presidents.

For more details behind O'Neal's fall read the latest piece from Thomas and Anderson. Expect this story to have serious legs. Chuck Prince is one lucky fellow for the moment. O'Neal has stolen his thunder and moved Prince's problems to the back pages of the media. It won't be too much longer. For the moment, besides who the board gets to replace O'Neal there is a great liklihood that there will be more top management changes at Merrill, so stay tuned.

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FT
Telegraph UK
Times Online UK

CEO Watch - Stanley O'Neal, Merrill Lynch, Update 1

Merrill's CEO, Stanley O'Neal, found himself in a bit more hot water. Rumors are flying that he is about to exit. In an article by Jenny Anderson and Landon Thomas, Jr. in today's New York Times they reported,

E. Stanley O’Neal, floated the idea of a merger with a large bank, a foray that angered Merrill’s board and could cost him his job, according to people close to the beleaguered Wall Street firm.

Mr. O’Neal broached the possibility of a merger with Wachovia, the bank based in Charlotte, N.C., without first getting the approval of Merrill’s board, a major breach of corporate protocol at a time when directors were already concerned about the company’s performance, these people said.

The pressure on O'Neal ratcheted up to a fever pitch as this article and the story behind hit the news wires. More and more analysts and experts are floating possible names as O'Neal's potential successor should he be forced to go. Earlier today CNBC's On-Air Editor Charles Gasparino had a piece that stated,

Stanley O'Neal has told associates that he's likely to be ousted as CEO in the coming days as the big brokerage firm's financial problems mount ...

Stay tuned

For more:

Financial Times
Financial News
BloggingStocks
Reuters
MarketWatch
BusinessWeek
Yahoo
DealBreaker
Portfolio.com
DealJournal
TheStreet
SECInvestor

CEO Watch - Merrill Lynch, Stanley O'Neal

With the news yesterday that Merrill Lynch's MER (NYSE) third-quarter loss was a whopping $2.24 billion, rumours began appearing that Stanley O'Neal, Merrill's CEO, may be at risk. Merrill, like so many other large financial firms, found itself mired in the middle of the sub-prime debt disaster. The company was forced to write off $7.9 billion. As a follow up to yesterday's massive write-off, Zachary Kouwe, in the New York Post discussed potential candidates for O'Neal's job:

Mother Merrill has typically pulled people from inside its own ranks, but recent turmoil and departures could cause the board to look outside, sources told The Post.

The top internal candidate talked about yesterday was Co-President Greg Fleming, a Wall Street rainmaker who has run Merrill's successful investment banking and mergers business.

According to a piece by Jenny Anderson and Landon Thomas, Jr., in The New York Times, O'Neal is safe for the moment.

For the time being, its seems as though Merrill’s board is supporting Mr. O’Neal — although given the decline of almost 6 percent in the stock yesterday and the growing criticism over his management style and decision making, that support may not be infinite.

Mr. O’Neal has turned over virtually the entire board. Only two directors, Aulana L. Peters and Joseph W. Prueher, were there when he joined the board.

While there has been some speculation that former Merrill executives, perhaps under the leadership of Mr. Tully, might band together to pressure Mr. O’Neal to step down, as happened at Morgan Stanley two years ago, there is no sign that any such movement has formed.

Stay tuned as the story evolves.

For more on the story:

Independent UK
Business Week
TheStreet.com
The Chicago Tribune
Business Week
Securities Law Professor Blog
Daily Intelligencer