Merrill Lynch Ousted CEO Gets Large Sum

On Tuesday, Merrill Lynch's CEO Stan O'Neal's severance package was increased to $160 million.

According to the MSNBC web site, "The company said that Mr. O'Neal and the board had 'both agreed that a change of leadership would best enable Merrill Lynch to move forward.' Mr. O'Neal's departure follows the company's admission last week that it had lost almost $8 billion on mortgage-backed securities."

Yet, O'Neal will not be filing for bankruptcy anytime soon, as he leaves the company with an estimated $80 million in stock, $40 million in options and another $30 million in pension and other amenities. A spokesman for Merrill better clarified what O'Neal left with by saying that he received no special severance package, but he did get to keep shares and options that had not yet vested.

According to TheStreet.com, "O'Neal was taken out by a boardroom coup following recent losses at the Wall Street bank. Merrill lost $2.2 billion during the market turmoil last quarter, after taking an $8.4 billion write-down. The news sent shares tumbling down. O'Neal then alienated allies by broaching merger talks with Wachovia Bank without first telling his own board."

Apparently, following this, it was revealed that board members had been unhappy with O'Neal's performance as CEO for quite some time. Yet it was only 21 months ago that the same board members were placing praise on O'Neal and an additional $36 million bonus for his phenomenal work.

"I have been very fortunate to spend the past 21 years at Merrill Lynch. The company has provided me with opportunities that I never could have imagined growin up, culminating with my leadership of the company over the past five years." 56-year-old O'Neal has been CEO since December 2003 and the only African-American head of an investment bank.