Too good to get ‘Merrill’y ‘Lynch’ed!
Thain has decided to give up a peaceful life in search of adventure; with some sense of purpose. Read his lips...
History books are filled with instances of warriors who’ve chosen the noisy warfronts over their peaceful homes. But how about a CEO abdicating his well-cushioned throne in a smoothly running company for a disaster-struck company?! Well, we have found exactly that in John Thain, the current CEO of NYSE-Euronext, who is all set to take charge as the Chairman & CEO, Merrill Lynch & Co. on December 1, 2007.
So the question really is: Can Thain steer the $47 billion
grief-stricken financial behemoth Merrill Lynch to shore? Well, the turnaround duty of restoring honour & pride in the face of the recent Q3 2007 financial setback of net losses amounting to $2.41 billion (the biggest loss ever in its long history of 93 years), a write-down of $8.4 billion and the drop in quarterly revenues by 35.2% to just $14.9 billion in the background of the $900 billion subprime meltdown, appears no less than a Herculean task. Answering this question, however, Alberto Cribiore, interim non-executive Chairman, Merrill Lynch, confidently replies, “John Thain is the right person as he brings unparalleled leadership experience & knowledge of the complexities of global capital markets as well as the skills required to operate a large financial services company. He will be adept at balancing the focus on risk management and controls while taking the steps necessary to ensure the company evolves and grows.”
Born on May 26, 1955, in Antoich, Illinois, Thain is married to Carmen and is blessed with a son, Alex. He graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1977 and then completed his MBA from Harvard. John was associated with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for 22 years, serving as the President & COO, when he left. He also held the position of co-CEO for European operations for Goldman. In 2004, with the disgraced departure of Richard Grasso, Thain joined NYSE as its CEO to breathe some life into the company & successfully implemented the system of electronic trading at NYSE through the acquisition of electronic trading platform Archipelago Holdings Inc..
With a track record of transforming NYSE into the world’s first truly global exchange via the purchase of $14.4 billion of Paris-based Euronext, Thain brought about the first trans-atlantic stock exchange – some achievement during a short tenure of under half-a-decade, and enough to prove what this seasoned commander is capable of achieving. With Merrill Lynch expected to take upto a further $10 billion in losses for the ongoing quarter (Q4 2007), he has to reassess Merrill’s risk management procedures, which miserably failed in assessing the bank’s exposure to risky lendings in the past. He also has to steer clear of putting his foot into the well of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), which stood devalued due to the crippling sub-prime mortgage disaster. And surely, Thain’s toughest task is to reassure investors and his employees that Merrill’s remaining CDO portfolio will be handled expertly & that the recent mistakes will not be repeated as long he remains. Undoubtedly, Thain will have to use his magic wand to fix the company’s fixed income division, a department he was well acquainted with while at Goldman in the 1990s.
He is a modest man who is not ashamed in revealing his not-so-glossy background as he asserts, “I did not grow up in an upper-crust, aristocratic background.” So on the brighter side, this man needs no reminder that these are literally non-aristocratic & humble times for the giant named Merrill Lynch, and he is precisely the leader it needs. This turnaround artist has to curb all natural forces to restore lost pride and glory to Merrill. In this mission, his undying passion for wrestling might come in very handy.
History books are filled with instances of warriors who’ve chosen the noisy warfronts over their peaceful homes. But how about a CEO abdicating his well-cushioned throne in a smoothly running company for a disaster-struck company?! Well, we have found exactly that in John Thain, the current CEO of NYSE-Euronext, who is all set to take charge as the Chairman & CEO, Merrill Lynch & Co. on December 1, 2007.
So the question really is: Can Thain steer the $47 billion
grief-stricken financial behemoth Merrill Lynch to shore? Well, the turnaround duty of restoring honour & pride in the face of the recent Q3 2007 financial setback of net losses amounting to $2.41 billion (the biggest loss ever in its long history of 93 years), a write-down of $8.4 billion and the drop in quarterly revenues by 35.2% to just $14.9 billion in the background of the $900 billion subprime meltdown, appears no less than a Herculean task. Answering this question, however, Alberto Cribiore, interim non-executive Chairman, Merrill Lynch, confidently replies, “John Thain is the right person as he brings unparalleled leadership experience & knowledge of the complexities of global capital markets as well as the skills required to operate a large financial services company. He will be adept at balancing the focus on risk management and controls while taking the steps necessary to ensure the company evolves and grows.”Born on May 26, 1955, in Antoich, Illinois, Thain is married to Carmen and is blessed with a son, Alex. He graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1977 and then completed his MBA from Harvard. John was associated with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for 22 years, serving as the President & COO, when he left. He also held the position of co-CEO for European operations for Goldman. In 2004, with the disgraced departure of Richard Grasso, Thain joined NYSE as its CEO to breathe some life into the company & successfully implemented the system of electronic trading at NYSE through the acquisition of electronic trading platform Archipelago Holdings Inc..
With a track record of transforming NYSE into the world’s first truly global exchange via the purchase of $14.4 billion of Paris-based Euronext, Thain brought about the first trans-atlantic stock exchange – some achievement during a short tenure of under half-a-decade, and enough to prove what this seasoned commander is capable of achieving. With Merrill Lynch expected to take upto a further $10 billion in losses for the ongoing quarter (Q4 2007), he has to reassess Merrill’s risk management procedures, which miserably failed in assessing the bank’s exposure to risky lendings in the past. He also has to steer clear of putting his foot into the well of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), which stood devalued due to the crippling sub-prime mortgage disaster. And surely, Thain’s toughest task is to reassure investors and his employees that Merrill’s remaining CDO portfolio will be handled expertly & that the recent mistakes will not be repeated as long he remains. Undoubtedly, Thain will have to use his magic wand to fix the company’s fixed income division, a department he was well acquainted with while at Goldman in the 1990s.
He is a modest man who is not ashamed in revealing his not-so-glossy background as he asserts, “I did not grow up in an upper-crust, aristocratic background.” So on the brighter side, this man needs no reminder that these are literally non-aristocratic & humble times for the giant named Merrill Lynch, and he is precisely the leader it needs. This turnaround artist has to curb all natural forces to restore lost pride and glory to Merrill. In this mission, his undying passion for wrestling might come in very handy.
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Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-
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machine spewing wrinkle-free notes. Yes, we are talking about ATMs that you use every second day to withdraw money or check your ever-dwindling balance. But imagine millions of ATMs dotting the rural landscape. Only their cost has to be much lower, they have to be hardier, should be able to handle soiled notes and, obviously, possess a different kind of authentication (maybe thumbprint) since most of the villagers are unable to read and write properly.
your bills of water, electricity, gas and even broadband. Sounds weird? Huh? But in the near future, this ungainly possibility will turn out to be a perquisite. Yes, you heard it right! The ministry of telecommunications, by flagging the current year as the “year of Broadband” is looking forward to the target of achieving 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010, which just amount to 0.3 million presently.
shortchanged the employees. Adi professes, “The 20,000+ ‘Godrejites’ who are an integral part of the Godrej Group’s fabric make our success a possibility. This focus on people has made us create policies and practices that help cultivate and manage talent.” Though the key critical issue, as Adi accepts, has surely been “attracting, retaining and managing talent.”
100-day Writer’s Guild Strike may have brought smiles to the face of the striking labour unions; but the strike itself has spelt a lean period for Hollywood goliaths. Major Hollywood studios and television networks have reported bleeding balance sheets for the quarter ended March 2008 (we took into account revenues and profits from the movie and/or TV business only). Paramount Pictures received the biggest setback, witnessing a 37.58% drop in revenues (to $11.4 billion), with losses to the tune of $63 million. Other biggies of tinsel town, including Disney, NBC Universal, 21st Century Fox and Warner Bros were destined with a similar fate (see box).
y form – films, poems, lyrics, ads was the key. He believes decoding passion and emotion is what words are about. “When I am listening to a client passionately talking about his products, I am thinking how best I can effectively decode it. The same is true for the Bollywood arena. Its about consuming the message sensorially and sharing it with your target group with the same passion... This is the challenge and it excites me all the time.”
Indian Pharma industry is, when will India give to the world its first new molecule? Well, my belief is, that while it is unlikely to happen in the immediate future, it will surely happen over a period of 8-10 years. This belief stems from the significant position carved by the Indian pharma industry in the global generics marketplace and the progress made by leading pharma companies in their drug discovery programs.
the world to bet big on the Rs.450 billion Indian FMCG industry. That’s not-so-obvious. But then, only a woman can understand a woman better and that’s the obvious! And cashing-in on this standard rule is Hina Nagarajan, Country Manager of Mary Kay Cosmetics Pvt. Ltd., the US-based company that forayed into India late last year. The company has taken select markets in India by storm in a span of just six months. In such a short breath, through its unique direct selling model, they have roped in over 2000 women dealers. Like other now-successful multi-level-marketing companies, this one too steers clear of the retailing strategy, but with other cosmetics player growing from big to bigger, the question of Mary Kay’s continued success does arise. But, with its unique game plan, this personal care player isn’t oblivious to the threats and consequences, and is willing to play hardball with the Goliaths of the tournament. In conversation with 4Ps B&M, Hina Nagarajan shares future strategies for the Indian market.
& Brand Development, SREI Infrastructure Finance, comments to 4Ps B&M, “The infrastructure sector in India is growing at a phenomenal pace and will require huge financial resources to maintain the tempo. With the government’s focus increasingly switching to the PPP mode, where more and more funding of projects will have to come from private routes, the obvious need is to increase the avenues of funds, and that too at competitive rates. Our association with BNP Paribas will help us access more funds at relatively cheaper rates, which will not only improve our strike rate in the infrastructure sector, but improve working margins as well. Also, the association will give us access to better systems.”
rope-a-dope than aggressive sell. Then, late last year, Sony rolled out a series of aggressive television ads that elegantly tied together Sony Blu-ray content with the players - Lance Ulanoff
Ernst & Young, KPMG). “We have no ambitions of wanting to be a part of that group. Our focus is quite different from the focus of those firms, which is to be the auditors of the top 1000 companies. Our focus is to concentrate on the mid-market segment,” explains Chandiok. Besides, GT’s focus clearly remains on privately-held businesses or promoter driven companies, where the promoters require solutions; it could be listed, it could be unlisted, very large firms, generally where promoters are actively involved in the management and where the requirement stems beyond merely the compliance requirement of audit. This is in stark contrast to other accounting firms that are present through the length and breadth of the industry. “Whatever market we specialise in, we remain the leading firm. So, if in India our key focus areas are technology, real estate and healthcare, we are the clear leader in real estate,” Chandiok points out.