By David A. Graham
One can't blame Thain for Merrill Lynch's demise as an independent firm, but his tone-deaf handling of the situation made him the symbol for out-of-touch bankers with ridiculous senses of entitlement. When he joined Merrill, he was a golden boy credited with reinventing the New York Stock Exchange, where he'd served as CEO from 2004 to 2007, but he was unable to save the firm from the excesses of O'Neal's tenure. The real blows to his reputation, however, were revelations about his costly office remodeling and his demands for a $10 million bonus--even after Merrill had been forced to sell itself to Bank of America. Thain is shown leaving the building that houses the New York Attorney General's Office in February 2009, after testifying about the bonus payments.
