Ken Lewis lost his battle today to continue as both CEO and chairman of Bank of America. Shareh
olders voted to rest the chairmanship away from Lewis. Lewis has been under a cloud ever since the Bank of America acquisition of Merrill Lynch and in some people’s minds since the bank’s acquisition of Countrywide the mortgage company. The real question many people are asking is whether or not Lewis will continue as the bank’s CEO much longer. According to a story by Louise Story for The New York Times,
… the vote to separate the chairmanship from the company’s executive leadership raised questions about how much longer Mr. Lewis could steer the bank as shareholder anger mounts over his handling of the bank’s takeover of Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Lewis has worked at the bank and its predecessors for 40 years and run it as chief executive since 2001.
It is very unlikely this is the end of the story. The bank replaced Lewis as Chairman with Walter E. Massey, a longtime board member and former president of Morehouse College.
For more:
SEIU blog
Economic Times
Wall Street Journal
Huffington Post
Financial Times
Los Angeles Times
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