MERRILL LYNCH: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING, AND GIVING, AND GIVING
Hero of the day: Stan O'Neal (and his Board?)
As you know, Merrill Lynch's Board just declared a quarterly $0.35 dividend, as if they aren't a national embarrassment enough.
Here's how it breaks down, based on last available figures:
| Holder | Shares | Reported | $0.35 |
| MONTAG THOMAS K. | 1,049,997 | 4-Aug-08 | $ 367,499 |
| ONEAL E STANLEY | 987,522 | 6-Feb-07 | $345,633 |
| KIM DOW | 794,042 | 13-Feb-07 | $ 277,915 |
| THAIN JOHN A | 791,068 | 29-Jul-08 | $ 276,874 |
Remember, those are quarterly. (Also the holdings info are quite a bit stale dated, so maybe not fully indicative).
From Wikipedia, the man who could do no wrong (on the Board of GM, too, our next bailout):
During August and September 2007, as the sub prime crisis swept through the Global financial market, Merrill Lynch announced losses of $8 billion. In October of the same year, he announced his retirement and walked away with a compensation package valued at $161.5 million.[3]
This is why your eyes should glaze over when you hear ... all about Joe-The-Plumber.
WHO IS ON THIS ALMOST SHAMELESS BOARD?
From Merrill:
John A. Thain
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Former CEO, director and member of Management Committee of NYSE Euronext, Inc.; 52 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2007.
Carol T. Christ
President, Smith College; former executive vice chancellor and provost, University of California, Berkeley; 63 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2007.
Armando M. Codina
President and Chief Executive Officer, Flagler Development Group; Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Florida International University; 60 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2005.
Virgis W. Colbert
Retired Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Miller Brewing Company; 68 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2006.
John D. Finnegan
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Chubb Corporation, a property and casualty insurance company; former Executive Vice President of General Motors Corporation, and Chairman and President of General Motors Acceptance Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation; 58 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2004.
Judith Mayhew Jonas
Member of the U.K. government's Commission for Equality and Human Rights; former Provost of Kings College, Cambridge; former Special Adviser to the Chairman, Clifford Chance, Solicitors; former Vice Chair of the London Development Agency; 59 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2006.
Aulana L. Peters
Retired Partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; former Member, Public Oversight Board of AICPA; former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; 65 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 1994.
Joseph W. Prueher
U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from 1999 to 2001; Consulting Professor to the Stanford-Harvard Preventive Defense Project; U.S. Navy Admiral (Ret.), Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Pacific Command from 1996 to 1999; 64 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2001.
Ann N. Reese
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Center for Adoption Policy, a not-for-profit corporation; former Principal, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private equity investment firm; former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ITT Corporation, a hotel and leisure company; 54 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2004.
Charles O. Rossotti
Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm; former Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the Internal Revenue Service; former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of American Management Systems, an international business and information technology consulting firm; 66 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2004.
