Bank Of America Without Ken Lewis
Soon they won’t have Kenneth Lewis to kick around any more.
Lewis, who has been CEO of Charlotte-based Bank of America will step down on December 31, 2009. He’ll take $68.8 million with him. That’s money he’s accumulated in 40 years with BAC and its predecessors. Despite the fantastic personal financial windfall, his time at the helm of the company in recent years has been rocky.
Things took a turn for the worse when Lewis preceded over the government-pushed Merrill Lynch takeover. His integrity came into question, along with his stewardship of the giant bank holding company when losses mounted during the midst of the financial crisis.
Even his retirement is not without controversy. There is concern whether Lewis is leaving fast enough. Company officials are worried that If he suffers new legal problems, he may be asked to step down faster, and this could cause a void in leadership at BAC, because his successor has not yet been chosen.
The company has now appointed six directors who will beging searching for Lewis’ permanent replacement.
Lewis’ reign will be remembered for the Merrill Lynch controversy, which is not even close to dying down. He served Bank of America since 1969, first when the company was NCNB, then when it became NationsBank, which went on to become Bank of America. The company he’s leaving in 2009 is far different than the one he joined in 1969, due in no small part to his efforts.
Now the future of BAC remains uncertain. Even the executive search is somewhat shrouded in mystery because investors are unsure of the role that will be played by government regulators. Will they conduct the search themselves? Will they veto any candidates? And what will they do to limit executive compensation? None of these issues are yet resolved, and all of them promise to add to the uncertainty of BAC’s future.
Lewis offered no apologies for his tenure when he announced his retirement.
“The Merrill Lynch and Countrywide integrations are on track and returning value already. Our board of directors and our senior management include more talent, and more diversity of talent, than at any time in this company’s history. We are in position to begin to repay the federal government’s TARP investments. For these reasons, I decided now is the time to begin to transition to the next generation of leadership at Bank of America,” he said at the time.
One thing seems certain, Bank of America without Ken Lewis promises to be a very different company than he one he helped build.