John Thain Gets CIT CEO Gig; Ken Lewis Bank Of America John Thain Merril Lynch Scapegoats For Paulson Bernanke

New York, NY – Two of the more unfortunate victims of the Financial Crisis may be disgraced form CEO’s of two of the largest financial firms on Wall Street.  Ken Lewis, former CEO of Bank of America and John Thain, former CEO of Merril Lynch were ridiculed for their part in the financial collapse.

John Thain was criticized for his expensive taste in decorating as well as the firesale price of Merril Lynch to Bank of America. 

UPDATE:  John Thain has been named Chairman and CEO of CIT Group.

CIT Group Inc., one of the nation’s largest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses, says Thain will take the helm immediately. He replaces acting interim CEO Peter J. Tobin, who will remain on CIT’s board.

The $1.2 million Thain spent redecorating his office — with expenses like an $87,000 area rug and a $35,000 “commode with legs” — paled beside the $15 billion in losses Merrill reported for the fourth quarter. The losses were so heavy, and so unexpected, that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis met secretly with government officials and negotiated a new infusion of cash from the government’s bailout fund.

Read More: gawker.com/5137182/john-thain-quits-bank-of-america-leaving-87000-rug-behind

Now there is talk of prosecuting Ken Lewis for his role in the acquisition of Merril Lynch.  Lewis has long claimed that Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke forced Ken Lewis to do the deal.  He now claims that if he is going down then Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke are going down too:

 NO WAY will he be a scapegoat, alone, for the people who twisted his arm to go through with the Merrill deal by telling him he would be fired if he didn’t. “If this thing goes to trial you can expect both Paulson and Bernanke to be on the witness list.” If he’s going down, he’s bringing them down, too. Bringing them down to Chinatown. Order in the court!

Read more: Ken Lewis: If I’m Going Down, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke Are Coming Down With Me — Daily Intel nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/02/ken_lewis_already_relishing_th.html#ixzz0enV29jIx