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NEW YORK (AP) — John Thain is getting a second chance.
CIT Group Inc. tapped the former Merrill Lynch CEO to become its chairman and chief executive.
Thain brokered Merrill’s sale to Bank of America as the credit crisis peaked in the fall of 2008, but was then pushed out the door after the deal closed as controversy swirled around bonus payments and mounting losses at the investment bank.
Man, exactly what do you have to do to become unhirable in this country? Eat Christian babies on CNN?
John Thain is the dope who was buying himself an $87,000 area rug as his company was going bust. He became a symbol for brainless greed on Wall Street just in time to complete a tortured sale of Merrill to Bank of America in which billions in losses were somehow kept hidden from BofA shareholders.
Now he gets another big job, just like very other high-end Wall Street buffoon who wrecks a company in this era. My favorite of course is John Meriwether, the “genius” investor who dreamed up the imploded hedge fund Long Term Capital Management in the late nineties. Meriwether immediately was given another $250 million to play with after LTCM blew up and is now working on his third such venture, a company called JM advisors, which uses LTCM-like investment techniques. Who’s giving guys like this money?
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
The bottom line: With gridlock in Washington “nobody” is in charge – “Nobody” will stand up and say no, neither will they bite the hand that feeds them – it’s as simple, and sad, as that.
These people shouldn’t just be unemployed, they belong in jail for life, stripped of all their cash. And I don’t mean one of those country club jails.
Will someone tall me what happened to the Justice Department in America? The legal system? I’m sometimes amazed that the U.S. still functions–when you watch what is going on in Washington and in our courts. When does the whole thing implode? Six months from now? Five years? Will it last another ten years?
“Who’s giving these guys money?”
Same guys who gave W. the White House.
It never ends…the horror, the horror, the horror…
Matt:
No one is covering the biggest story of the war in Iraq. What’s the story? Who are the people making all the money supplying all the war materials? Are they the people who keep pushing the war expansion? Some politicians like to talk about the transfer of wealth from the masses to a few. That is exactly what the war is doing. The Christmas day panty bomber put a lot of wind into the sails of the war champions.
I know that if you investigated where and to who the war supplies profits are going you would have a great story but you might get busted by the feds for unamerican activities.
Bob
It confuses me that everyone is calling for consequences and relating pay to the health of the company for wall street and other financial firms and yet no one has suggested the same for Paulson and Geithner.
If they are so confident that what they did was write and that we are now in a recovery and only a few things like jobs are lagging, how come know one is suggesting that we tie their pay rate to say the unemployment rate. As it goes up, so does their pay.
Maybe this is unreasonable, but it seems to me that it would add a layer of accountability to this area of government where it seems to be lacking.
You are too kind. Both Paulson and Geithner should be in Chino Prison looking at 25 years hard time with no chance of parole. Their assets should be confiscated by the U.S. Govt.
And Bernenke should be looking at 35 years with no chance of parole.
I am getting angrier by the day, and can’t be passive any more. These Wall Street guys should all be investigated, indicted and sent to Guantanamo. If William Black were running things, they would be!!
I DID have hope for Obama initially, but the second I heard he nominated Geithner and that Larry Summers was a key economic adviser, my heart sank. Unfortunately, the latter emotion was the one that has born the poison fruit. I half heartedly say I will give him until June to change his ways, but I’m not counting on it….. and the republicans? Please!! There is no honor among thieves, the only consideration for them is who is in power.
If you want to get REALLY MAD, watch this and pass it around:
http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/mypage/player/tbws/23088/1122384
Also, check this out and consider joining. I need to do SOMETHING, and this looks like potentially a great idea!!
http://www.swarmusa.com/vb4/content.php
All the crooks still trust one another and will do anything to help maintain their personal and financial status quo. Has the “free market” actually punished these criminals? No, because the “free market’ does not self-regulate, no matter how badly the Republicans would like to think so. They all remain in power positions after the bailouts, after the public outrage and after the noodle-slapping by our ineffectual President.
Ummm its pretty obvious that in the Wall Street culture the same tired names and faces keep getting called on even though they have failed time and time again. One only needs to watch CNBC at 7 PM eastern time to see guests like Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore on host Lawrence Kudlow’s self named show. Between the 3 of them they have never had one correct idea or theory about the economy. But there they are night after night telling us about lowering taxes and deregulating. When people occasionally do step up and tell the truth or differ with the Trickle down theory they are marginalized and belittled. Examples of this besides yourself include Paul Krugman and Noriel Roubini, the latter of whom received the sarcastic nickname Dr. Doom for predicting (correctly) that the bubble would burst.
I’ve become a big fan of Matt’s articles for RS. My 15-yr-old musician son reads it for music news, I read it for it’s excellent National Affairs section, and lately my son has started reading it too and likes it!
Here’s an article I thought Matt would appreciate: http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2010/01/story.php?id=7591
I’m posting it here b/c I don’t know how to contact him personally.
Cheers!