Maybe BofA Should Use TheLadders

Over the past 24 hours, and particularly this morning, news of Bank of America's search for a CEO to replace the retiring Ken Lewis has been dominating business news websites and the blogosphere. Apparently the job isn't very appealing to some of the top-notch executives who BofA is going after. Maybe they should use TheLadders for their job search ("$100k+ jobs for $100k+ people"). Ranging from speculation to confirmed reports, the latest news suggests that when BofA announces its new CEO, which is expected to come next week, that man (wouldn't you be surprised if it was a woman?) likely won't already be living here in Charlotte and probably won't be required to move here. That in itself has opened the door to a whole new realm of speculation.


I've selected a few news and blog links below.

Bank of America’s Next Chief May Be Based in New York. Bloomberg

BofA CEO may be based outside Charlotte. Reuters

Bank of America's next chief could be based in the Big Apple. Daily Finance (AOL)

Nobody Wants To Lead Bank Of America. DealBreaker

The Dowager City: Next BofA Chief May Quit Charlotte. DealBreaker

BNY Mellon CEO Kelly Tells BofA: No, Thanks. The Wall Street Journal

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Hugh McColl Always Seems to Know What He's Talking About

There was so much national media coverage of Bank of America's shareholders meeting last week in Charlotte, you would've thought the meeting wasn't an annual occurrence. But, of course, the economy--and the state of banks specifically--isn't where it was a year ago and people's concerns are at an all-time high. As you know, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis was stripped of his chairman title at the meeting, which was said to have drawn 2,200 shareholders inside Belk Theater at the start of the contentious, four-hour session.

Offering an interesting perspective on the day's event and insight into what's to come was former BofA CEO/chairman Hugh McColl, who is credited for creating the blueprint for the behemoth the bank is today, before retiring in 2001 and being succeeded by Lewis. In this video below, Bloomberg News interviews McColl outside of the shareholders meeting. Even though he dodges a few questions, I like how McColl always speaks so matter-of-factly.



We can expect another storm to brew later this week. The results of the federal government's "stress tests" of 19 U.S. banks are scheduled to be released Thursday.

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BofA Is Officially Number One

According to a new study by SNL Financial, Bank of America is now the largest U.S. bank, ranked by assets. The Charlotte-based bank has total assets of almost $2.5 trillion. Before the recent acquisition of Merrill Lynch, BofA would have been ranked third. Even though the Merrill Lynch deal has proved to be an ongoing headache as New York's attorney general has led an investigation into the massive executive bonuses ML dished out, at least we can take pleasure in knowing we're number one. Take that New York! And Ken Lewis has won...for now.

BofA knocked off former number one JPMorgan Chase (New York), which is now second on the list with $2.17 trillion in assets. Citigroup (New York) is third with $1.9 trillion; Wells Fargo (San Francisco), which acquired Wachovia at the end of the year, is fourth with $1.3 trillion; and HSBC (Mettawa, Ill.) rounds out the top five with $467 billion.

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National News Puts Spotlight On Small Bank

NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams just aired a story about small town banks succeeding while the big banks are failing. It featured Citizens South bank in Gastonia, which is "an old textiles town in the shadows of Charlotte," and its sharp-minded CEO Kim Price (Kim is a man). Ken Lewis and all the other big-bank CEOs had to be watching this and turning red in the face. Bank of America became a conglomerate by gobbling up little banks like this, but now it's the small community banks that are flourishing. The news story said less than 1 percent of Citizens South's loans are in default. And that Price is "a Boys and Girls Club kind of guy. No chauffeurs. No jets." Obvious dig. See video below.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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New York Post Takes Shot At Ken Lewis Too

There's no rest for the weary. As I blogged about in my previous post, The New York Times ran an article in today's paper about Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis's troubles. Well the New York Post profiles Lewis today also, in its typical edgy, tabloid-like fashion. Below is the graphic that accompanies the article.

I'm betting Lewis is feeling like Charlotte isn't far enough from New York right now. Click here to read "Watch It, Ken" in today's paper.

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Random Notes From Watching Bank of America on 60 Minutes

I just finished watching Bank of America and its CEO Ken Lewis on CBS's 60 Minutes. (I'm pretty sure I'm the first person on the 'net tonight to blog about it.) Lewis was interviewed by correspondent Lesley Stahl. Much of their interview was a walk-and-talk through Bank of America's offices and downtown Charlotte.

Here are my notes.

• Lewis said "every other American family in the United States does business with us in some form or fashion."
• During this economic crisis, people have been taking their money out of other banks and depositing it into Bank of America because it seems to be the strongest and safest bank.
• The way BofA became the largest bank in the country is by buying the number one companies in virtually every category of banking: Countrywide in mortgages, MBNA in credit cards, etc.
• BofA is a nearly $3 trillion conglomerate, "the Wal-Mart of banking," Stahl says.
• The segment showed BofA's trading floor, showing "600 wheeler-dealers" and what Stahl said is "the iconic image of Wall Street." Except this trading floor is 600 miles south of New York. "The biggest bank in America is headquartered in Charlotte?" Stahl asks rhetorically. "Some people don't even know what state Charlotte is in, whether it's in North or South Carolina. Am I insulting you?" "No," Lewis says. "In fact, I always say 'Charlotte, North Carolina' so they don't have to ask questions."
• Lewis walks with Stahl down Tryon Street and points to all of the buildings BofA owns. "This building, that building, that building, that building..."
• "We didn't like being small. There's nothing really attractive about being small," says former BofA CEO Hugh McColl. He's then asked if he felt like New York used to treat him and his bank like country bumpkins. And he basically says he wasn't trying to take over New York; he wanted to take over the country.
• Says Stahl, "The crowning victory came last month when Wall Street's most famous investment houses were collapsing under the weight of their toxic portfolios and needed rescuing. They went hat in hand to Charlotte, North Carolina."
• Lewis said New York's brokers are being paid too much money. He also said that executive compensation has gotten out of hand. When asked if he thinks his job is secure, he looks stumped, then laughs and says, "I must think that because I don't think about that question."
• "Did you defeat Wall Street," Stahl asks. "To some degree, we're part of it so I don't know that we defeated it," Lewis says. "Well, if you're number one, and if the idea was to compete with New York or Wall Street, you won," Stahl insists. "Yes, we have won in that sense."
• The segment makes no mention of Wachovia. All the camera had to do was pan left.

Click here for a podcast of the episode.

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