BofA’s Merrill Lynch Legacy: The 7th Floor
As much as some people want to blame all of Merrill Lynch’s woes on the soon-to-be-departing Ken Lewis, you just cannot. Too much of Merrill’s problems were of their making. Its just not right to blame everything that has happened since last year on B of A, given what came the years before.
I recall VERY early in my career as a trader being given a tour of Merrill’s vast trading floor in the World Financial Center. It was where the word ginormous came from.
Those of us who know what Mother Merrill once was before it was Stan O’Nealed, before it was gutted like a pig to be roasted, can look at what happened and just shake our heads in dumbfounded amazement.
Below are exhibits A and B — the once bustling 7th floor — they come to us from a trader (still looking for work) who was retired recently as part of the BA takeover.
No wonder office rents keep dropping in NYC:
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October 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am
Bravo BR — about time someone remembered Stan O’Neal’s prominent role in ML’s destruction. But he’s run off to his wealthy retirement, politically-protected from any responsibility…
October 1st, 2009 at 11:35 am
Turn those machines back on !!
October 1st, 2009 at 11:36 am
@lb: CLASSIC line. Perfect spot for it too. Maybe the computers ARE still on and trading amongst themselves via HFT?
October 1st, 2009 at 11:46 am
I had a brief stint at Merrill in my less than illustrious financial services career and it seemed like one hell of a dysfunctional place. I often wondered how in the world they stayed in business so long. Now we know how. My conclusion was the big companies can stay in business for a long time in spite of themselves but eventually they’ll blow themselves up.
October 1st, 2009 at 11:59 am
on the + side, that could be a helluva Archery Range..
~~
lb,
Apt.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/apt
the adj. def. #1, not the n.
October 1st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
But did it add any value to the world, or just extract rents on the system?
October 1st, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Lewis’ mistakes were 1) underestimating the greed and corruption rampant in the investment banking business and 2) getting snookered by Thain to hand out $3 billion in bonuses to greedy and corrupt investment bankers.
October 1st, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Wow. Merrill’s desks. Hard-t0-believe the glory days the author was talking about happened this decade.
October 1st, 2009 at 12:32 pm
you could turn that in to a serious pc bang and get some good starcraft 2 revenues.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Nice Aeron Chairs! Open an account at BAC, get a Aeron chair free. I will sign up for that.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
“My conclusion was the big companies can stay in business for a long time in spite of themselves but eventually they’ll blow themselves up.”
Dare I say, that sounds a lot like the US of A of late.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:20 pm
“But did it add any value to the world, or just extract rents on the system?”
Damned good point Zack. Too much life blood has been taken from our economy by this industry. It went well beyond facilitating economic activity and allocating capital efficiently much too long ago. Now it’s worse, as the zombie banks suck the life out of us.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Reminds me of space I’ve seen in military headquarters buildings. What a fun place to work. :roll:
October 1st, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I’ve never understood how people can think in huge, open-plan offices like this. The noise level must be incredible!
October 1st, 2009 at 6:44 pm
[...] Barry Ritholtz passes on current photos of Merrill’s old pre-BOFA trading floor. [...]
October 1st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Damn. Hard to believe I used to work there as early as last year….. It was fun though I know exactly what Barry means by Stan O’nealed
October 1st, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I need an aeron chair, my back hurts and my oxy is wearing off
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:21 am
[...] Merrill Lynch’s trading floor looks like a neutron bomb hit it. (TBP) [...]