Merrill Lynch Sizes Up Potential CEOs

With O'Neal headed for exit, list of possible successors grows

By Zach Samalin, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 26, 2007 4:49 PM CDT

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Merrill Lynch Sizes Up Potential CEOs — A Merrill Lynch office is seen in York, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. Merrill Lynch & Co. took a $7.9 billion writedown because of the summer's credit crisis, a bigger-than-expected amount that raised the specter of more trouble ahead from risky home loans. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press)

With Stan O'Neal all but ousted after an $8.4 billion writedown mostly on subprime loans and an overture to Wachovia, Merrill Lynch is on the hunt for a new chairman and CEO. Candidates include BlackRock's Larry Fink, NYSE Euronext's John Thain, and in-house contender Robert McCann, Reuters reports. Sources tell CNBC O'Neal will be gone this weekend.

Speculation about O'Neal's departure worked wonders on Merrill shares, which soared 5.19% to $66.09. Fink is considered one of the top bond managers in the US; Thain is a former Goldman-Sachs co-president; McCann, who directs the 16,610 Merrill Lynch brokers, has been hauling in record profits. (Read more Merrill Lynch stories.)

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