Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSyst

137 Merrill’s shares down 32 percent for the year: Tenzin Pema, “Merrill Lynch Outlook Cut at JP Morgan,” Reuters, June 11, 2008.

137 who was sometimes referred to as “I-Robot”: “Stiff, cerebral and intimidating, John Thain is not a ‘people person.’ Behind his back his nickname is ‘I Robot.’ ” See Dominic Rushe, “The IRobot Rides In to Sort Out Merrill Lynch,” Sunday Times (London), November 18, 2007.

137 Fink, ironically, had lead the exchange’s search committee that selected him: Kate Kelly, Greg Ip, and Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, “For NYSE, New CEO Could Be Just the Start,” Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2003.

137 shutting the wood-paneled Luncheon Club and firing the exchange’s barber: Asked about his firing of the NYSE barber, a kindly old man who made $24,000 a year, Thain said: “The barber was a very nice guy who’d been there for a very long time… . [I]t’s difficult to argue that a publicly traded company needs to have its own barber.” Gary Weiss, “The Taming of Merrill Lynch,” Portfolio, May 2008.

137 when he interned at Procter & Gamble: Justin Schack, “The Adventures of Superthain,” Institutional Investor—Americas, June 14, 2006.

138 “When he made conversation”: Lisa Kassenaar and Yalman Onaran, “Merrill’s Repairman,” Bloomberg Markets, February 2008.

138 “Would it hurt you to suck up to me once in a while?”: Ibid.

138 “So, I think you said before that you’re comfortable”: Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo, asked Thain during a conference call. “John A. Thain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer-Merrill Lynch, to Participate in a Conference Call Hosted by Deutsche Bank on June 11—Final,” Fair Disclosure Wire, June 11, 2008.

138 “At the end of last year when we were looking to”: Ibid.

138 having heard him repeatedly say, “We have plenty of capital”: On March 8, 2008, Thain told France’s Le Figaro: “Today I can say that we will not need additional funds. These problems are behind us. We will not return to the market.” To the Japanese Nikkei Report on April 3, he said: “We have plenty of capital going forward, and we don’t need to come back into the equity market.” At a news conference in Mumbai on May 7: “We have no present intention of raising any more capital.” See Nick A ntonovics, “Merrill CEO Says Won’t Need More Capital,” Reuters, March 8, 2008; “Full Text of Interview with Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain,” Nikkei Report, April 4, 2008; John Satish Kumar, “Credit Crunch: Merrill’s Thain Backs Auction-Rate Securities,” Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2008.

138 as “the most vulnerable brokerage after Lehman”: Reinhardt Krause, “Lehman Bros. Extends Slide as Wall St. Doubts Future,” Investor’s Business Daily, June 13, 2008.

139 For a single day John Thain had the job he had wanted for his entire career: Kassenaar and Onaran, “Merrill’s Repairman,” Bloomberg Markets. Craig Horowitz, “The Deal He Made,” New York, July 10, 2005.

139 At Robert Hurst’s Fifth Avenue apartment: Ellis, The Partnership, 613.

139 Corzine off skiing in Telluride, Colorado: Ibid.

139 Thain, a longtime lieutenant and friend of Corzine: Ibid. Corzine had long been an ally of Thain’s, helping him secure the chief financial officer job in 1994 and later a spot on the executive committee. They went skiing together in Colorado and dined out with their wives in Manhattan. Thain was the trustee-designate for the Corzines’ children’s trusts. See also Noam Scheiber, “The Brain in Thain,” New York, January 8, 2007.

139 Thain was the one to have to break the news to him: Ibid.

139 “Jon has decided to relinquish the CEO title”: Ibid.

139 accumulating several hundred million dollars in stock from the IPO: After Goldman’s IPO, Thain’s 3.1 million shares were worth about $171 million. Kimberly Seals McDonald, “Goldman’s Bounty— Top Execs Will Pocket up to $869m in IPO,” New York Post, April 13, 1999; Erica Copulsky, “Goldman Notifies Top Non-Partners of Payout Formulas,” Investment Dealers Digest, May 3, 1999.

140 he bought a ten-acre property in Rye: Charlie Gasparino, “John Thain’s $87,000 Rug,” Daily Beast, January 22, 2009.

140 determined to take a two-week trip to Vail at Christmastime: Susanne Craig and Dan Fitzpatrick, “Merrill Architects Criticized,” Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2009.

140 he took Thain out to dinner: Ellis, The Partnership, 660.

140 leaving to become CEO at the New York Stock Exchange: While Thain’s NYSE appointment was confirmed on December 18, 2003, his first day was not until January 15, 2004. “Recap of Stories on NYSE Naming Goldman’s Thain As CEO,” Dow Jones, December 18, 2003.

141 was paid a $15 million signing bonus: Cardiff de Alejo Garcia, “Financial News: Thain to Get up to $11M from Restricted Shares,” Dow Jones, September 16, 2008.

141 raised $12.8 billion from the sovereign wealth funds: Other investors in this group include Japan’s Mizuho bank group and the Korea Investment Corp. Jed Horowitz, “Merrill Seeks Intl Investments for Itself, Clients: Pres,” Dow Jones, February 6, 2008.

141 He also went about slashing costs: Susanne Craig, “The Weekend That Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2008.

141 flowers that were costing the firm some $200,000: Ibid.

142 a signing bonus of $39.4 million, even though Montag wouldn’t begin work: An SEC filing revealed that in addition to Montag’s $600,000 annual salary, Merrill agreed to pay him a bonus of $39.4 million in cash and stock- based compensation for fiscal year 2008, which he would receive in January 2009. “Merrill Lynch to Pay New EVP Montag $600,000 Salary,” Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert, May 2, 2008.

142 Thain would hire Peter Kraus: Kevin Kingsbury, “Kraus the Latest Ex-Goldman Hire at Merrill,” Dow Jones, May 5, 2008; Heidi N. Moore, “Merrill’s K raus Gets $25M, Then Leaves,” Dow Jones, December 22, 2008.

142 And then there was his office: Charlie Gasparino, “John Thain’s $87,000 Rug,” Daily