The New York Times today describes how Merrill Lynch survived the financial crisis long enough to be sold to Bank of America, while Lehman Brothers had to declare bankruptcy.
A close look at the two executives who saved, and lost, their company, provides a remarkable parallel to Obama and McCain.
John A. Thain, described by the Times as “a dead ringer for Clark Kent,” was the recently installed CEO who saved Merrill Lynch. Thain is 53.
Richard S. Fuld Jr., 62, had spent his entire career at Lehman Brothers, before he had to put his 158-year-old firm into bankruptcy.
Consider:
A reserved and almost robotic executive, Mr. Thain approached Merrill’s fate like a technocrat, coolly assessing his options and selling the company before the pain got worse.
Sounds like “No drama Obama,” doesn’t it?
Mr. Fuld, a passionate, dedicated and combative leader, … [was] a classic Wall Street trader — taking big risks, reaping huge rewards, exuding intensity and demanding loyalty. A University of Colorado graduate, he stumbled into the industry and through sheer determination rose from a trading floor to the highest ranks of his profession.
Sounds like McCain, the guy who graduated at the bottom of his class but worked his way up to Senator. This quote, re Fuld, also could be applied to McCain via his long stint in the government:
“We are all prisoners of where we have been. The longer you are attached to a place, the harder it is to see it without rose-colored glasses,” says James D. Cox, a professor at the Duke University School of Law.
Meanwhile, the newcomer, like Obama, was not so hindered:
“When Mr. Thain got to Merrill, he started moving quickly to put the problems behind him. …
Mr. Thain … is cautiously amiable and seemed to act out, rather than inhabit, the role of C.E.O. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he spent his career at Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange before Merrill’s board asked him to calm a firm rife with palace politics and glaringly lax risk management.
In the end, the technocrat brought Merrill a measure of safety, though only by the narrowest of margins.
That’s what I expect Obama will do – and just barely. It’s tough running a country.
And this Fuld description provides a good warning re the so similar McCain:
[T]he defiance and independence that marked Mr. Fuld’s tenure and made him one of Wall Street’s most admired chief executives served him poorly when — like many — he misjudged the severity of the financial upheaval.
I’ll take the calm, cool, well-educated younger executive over the emotion-driven combative veteran any time.
I hope America joins me in that sentiment come election day.