This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Ken Lewis Farewell Letter
To my teammates:
As some of you may know, I always end my summer in the mountains, giving me time to reflect on the bank’s challenges and our strategies to meet them. I have always returned to the company in the fall energized and ready to get to work with all of you to meet those challenges and pursue our goals.
This year, though, has been different. This year, I returned with a strong belief that the major strategic challenges of my tenure as CEO have been met. We have built leading market positions in every major product category in our industry. We have come through the worst economic downturn in 80 years with all the tools, assets and talent we need to succeed and win. We have taken the most important steps to reduce and remove the need for government support of our company.
The next great set of challenges for our company – executing across our businesses to achieve our potential, and imagining how our company must continue to evolve to meet the changing demands of the global marketplace – are for our next chief executive officer, and for our Executive Management Team, which I know is capable of rising to any challenge. I now have a strong sense that the work that has consumed me for the past eight years is largely finished, and that it is time for a new leader to take on new challenges with all of you.
For these reasons, I informed the board today of my intention to retire at the end of the year.I am comfortable with this decision, not only personally, but also as someone who is greatly invested in Bank of America. Our board of directors and our senior management include more talent, and more diversity of talent, than at any time in this company’s history. They begin the next chapter in our company’s history with a franchise unique in the world: a bank with primacy in U.S. retail and commercial banking, global wealth management and corporate and investment banking.
I have spent a lot of time this year meeting with our customers, investors and associates around the country and around the world. They understand what we have built and what we can offer them, and their excitement about the future of this bank is contagious.
I am gratified that even some of the critics of our acquisition of Merrill Lynch have come to acknowledge how well the deal is working out for our clients, and the great potential this combination holds for our shareholders over the long-run. Looking at the range of clients covered by our financial advisors and the strong position our traders and investment bankers have in the most important markets around the world, it has become hard to imagine Bank of America without Merrill Lynch.
Certainly, this journey has been a rocky one, and not for the faint of heart, but perseverance is paying off. There is no question in my mind that our success in these businesses will continue and grow over time.
None of this is to say that our bank does not face challenges. A near double-digit unemployment rate is bad medicine for a bank that serves consumers, and I am disappointed in how we managed credit risk. The next two quarters will be difficult.
I can assure you, though, that we have devoted the resources necessary to managing credit better. We have access to credit markets on terms that reflect our strength and stability. And when the economy does return to something approaching normal, our consumer bank – with preeminent positions in deposits, homes loans and card services – will lead the industry and will be an earnings machine.
Some will suggest that I am leaving under pressure or because of questions regarding the Merrill deal. I will simply say that this was my decision, and mine alone.
Most important to me is this: I will leave knowing that almost anywhere I go in this country, I’ll be able to walk into a Bank of America banking center and receive a warm greeting. I will be able to travel the world, and visit towers full of bright, energetic associates creating financial solutions for companies of every size and shape. Everywhere I go, I will know and see that the company I had the privilege to serve for 40 years is in good hands.
When I joined this company fresh out of college in 1969, I had several offers from other very strong companies, some offering markedly better terms. I chose this company because of the culture and the people I found here. It was a group of people who believed that with trust and teamwork, anything is possible. It was a culture that rewarded hard work and enthusiasm, that allowed and encouraged people to do the right thing, that demanded leadership from its associates, and settled for nothing short of winning.
We remain that company today, because of all of you. Thank you for allowing me to lead the greatest financial services company in the world. Thank you for understanding that our customers come first, and that all our future success flows from them. Thank you for all the support you’ve given me over the years. I’m very grateful. Ken
- 6508 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


Ah, I feel better, glad he got in his vacations, hope this isn't his christmas holiday early.
They understand what we have built and what we can offer them, and their excitement about the future of this bank is contagious.
Sounds like a homosexul. Gets excited and excites others with his behavior. Good show, Lewis. You did n't tell us if you ever had an incentuous relationship. Heheh, just joking dear. You see, you drew a fast one on all the Americans and, the other world-folks, in whose country your blood-sucking machine works.
Good fuck*** riddance.
I wonder if he is going to end up getting bashed in the face by big house Bubba like Allen Stanford? One can only hope.
Ken Lewis haha
P.S. If anyone needs me I will be spending my time with my boyfriend, Jose, at Butner, NC cellblock C.
Naww. Ken is going straight to D block at Lewisberg.
And his bullshit continues. He was probably planning on retiring then anyway. You know, before the market imploded and the ML deal.
Ken gets a twofer today....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDIguDs5i6w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCjRTaOUo4
Here's what I would go with....
Tool - Aenima
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEeAn6_QJo
Not necessarily dedicated to Kenny boy, but it's the way I feel today.
Gotta go to church with the Rev. Maynard every once in a while no doubt
My response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYqwb7klQK8
Prison Sex by Tool may also serve nicely
and after 40 years of working his fingers to the bone to be someone, it only took two conversations with monkey man and tweeter to become a nobody.
Borrowing heavily from the Traveling Willbury's Bruce Springsteen parody, are we?
Borrowing requires a good knowledge of cut & past. When I am going to use someone else's character at the same sight over and over I provide the credit the first time I use it- not the next 7 times.
I do not know anything about Springstein other than I never liked his music when I heard it on commercial radio. I believe those working man themes were used several years before Bruce's grandparents were born.
I believe my best response for you is to direct you to the response George Harrison made to the judge in his copyright trail for My Sweet Lord.
Our knowledge comes from what see and hear. All knowledge is borrowed.
I appreciate you responding to my comment. It is rare that I go back to one of my comments to see if anyone responded. The reason for that is that I am really just talking to myself. I often marked my own stuff as junk after I went back a day later and read it.
I do not recognize your handle. If you are an infrequent blogger to this site, stick around. I'll show you some real junk.
I have a handle that is easy to remember so, when you are going through the comments and you come to waterdog, just skip over it like all the sane people do. Look, the real news is bad enough, why compound your aggrevation reading what I am saying to myself?
Thanks again for responding. Now I have proof for my therapist that someone does care.
"In Jersey anything's legal as long as you don't get caught." My yearbook quote.
Well it looks like Ken was caught. Those who have reviewed documents, e-mails, and transcripts from last December are indicating Ken utilized the MAC to shake down Bernanke and Paulson. Is this evidence benig contrived? Who knows but for more,
http://www.senseoncents.com/2009/09/documents-indicate-ken-lewis-utilize...
And while Ken goes out with a bang - the (alleged) theft continues - folks kenny boy is a distraction
PPIP Starts with Modest $1.13 Billion Investmenthttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB125433956919653423.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDD...
Complete distraction and attempt to distance criticism away from BAC from here on out. That is a company which needs their shadow to be exposed.
Ken Lewis aside, I'm sure upper management in these banks are looking to check out in the next 1-2 quarters. Why not go out with cake and bonuses, and teary eyed farewell parties. There is no better time. And when you've cleaned your hands of it, and things aren't looking so rosy in a couple of quarters new management will be under the cross-hairs. You'll even get on CNBC to give expert-advise on the failings of new management.
Nope, he'll get paid to give us commentary broadcast by CNBC and repeated ad naseum in all MSM markets.
JPM heir stepping down also??? I guess his creation of WMD did not help! lol
Anyone that has been a part of passing on ....or
in the creation of bogus debt ....who has/had responsibility
of oversight has to relinquish all bonuses and any financial remuneration until all innocent parties are made whole....
What doe this mean....?
It means what it means....
This guy sounds like Bush....
Who gives a s---- about this guy's cushy life....being on
vacation.... WTF is this....
How about the foreclosures....looking for other people's money....
Now it is your turn....
Enough of this sappy southern crap....
It is all the same whether it is hard core GS
mother sellers money junkies....or slick southern bs....
A spade is a spade.....
Now its time to pay for the wrongs.....that's right ....
Your turn....
Ken goes down as the scapegoat only to get pardoned by Obama for "service to the country during these extaordinary times"?
Yes, but not to the country.
Obama will issue pardons to zoo animals if the bankers told him to.
He overpaid for ML. He lied to his shareholders. He got rolled by Paulson. Fcuk that loser.
since he actually worked for the cartel, isn't it possible that he truly was the same as a person with a gun at their head?
Admittedly he SHOULD have said NO to paulson and bernake if he didn't want the deal...but, all the way back to September, he spoke to the press about paulson and bernake insisting that he would single handedly take down the world's financial system if he didn't do the deal...he wanted to pay half of what was paid...and he wanted to back out of the deal when the info of the losses came out in Dec...every step along the way the big bosses stepped in to keep him in line. I don't understand how the big bosses aren't having to pay for their crimes since they orchestrated and used him every step along the way.
I do understand how you feel about him being a loser, but seriously, if he did have the gun at his head the way it looks, can you blame him? Some people for sure are heros and very brave to the death, and his actions are very weak, but, i still blame paulson and bernake for putting the gun on him every step of the way.
what is he smoking BoA did not exist 40 years ago, did it?
Teammates? Serfs is more like it.
+10
What will his retirement package look like? 100, 200, 500 million?
With Kenny boy being scapegoated for the entire BOA-ML mess, Benny and Hanky must be pretty happy with themselves. If only they knew what fate might have in store for them, they'd be BEGGING for Kenny boy's fate.
+1
Karma...let's hope Kenny boy writes his book!!!
I can attest to the fact it is never too late to be Miles Kendig
+1 GG
I wish you were correct - Benny will occupy the chair of some "distinguished" name at an Ivy League school - Hank is a bit of a mystery man with his Christian Science background i.e. nothing exists; but I do see the master suite in a tri-deck Feadship in his future as opposed to the lower bunk of cell block D
Do you know what happened in the French Revolution in the 18th century?
yes my last name is Defarge
WhoT!
Kenny effed up the Merrill deal and bonus stuff etc... meanwhile the AIG beneficiaries got 100 cents on the dollar - and that's just the beginning - what Kenny did amounts to a misdemeanor compared to the alleged theft of hundreds of billions by the banksters and politicians
We appreciate that the Scarlet Pimpernel will never choose save them their fate.
Alan Grayson seems to have the temperament to play Robespierre (though that did not end well).
I swear, you folks around here are all alike. All you want is some head...
You folks? haha
That kind only works for 15 seconds or so (the silent scream, no). I would hope most folks around here aren't working or trading on that short of a time horizon.
I do think Anon is correct. But Hank is going to have to have a behind-the-scenes master role. He just cannot effectively accomplish the big things by giving speeches to the groups. If I really had to picture Hank doing something more fitting himself, all I can see is hunting wabbits.
I think you are confusing Elmer Fudd (who hunts wabbits) with Porky Pig (who s-s-stutters).
T-T-T-That's all, folks!
Ah, I did merge the two together in the mind. Much to my amusement, when I just went to YouTube to refresh myself on both - this is what came up as the 4th result from a simple search for just "Elmer Fudd."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZeqL0CUvjY
Either YouTube search results have gotten as smart as Google Ads, or there really are no such things as coincidences anymore.
Maybe hunting wabbits wit Elmer Dick Chenney?
that christian science background is of more
than passing interest....paulson went to
work for the nixon whitehouse where both
john ehrlichman and bob haldeman were christian
scientists....i believe there were more nixon
staffers who cs....not sure what to make of it
but my guess is that paulson was brought in
by either ehrlichman or haldeman...
My sentiment exactly. He is a total scapegoat--he said it over and over and over on every interview:
i didn't want to do the deal but i was STRONGLY persuaded that it was in the best interest of our company to do so, because the world would come to an end if we didn't give a bankrupt company 80% of a cashcow BAC share for each of their bankrupt shares...and oh yea, i really wanted to do the deal after paulson explained that to me.
Ken Lewis stated in PBS' Frontline "Inside the Meltdown", his dream was to build a bank in the south that could dominate the NY/Ivy League run banks.
Are you completely out of your mind!??? Since when will NY give up their permanent vote on the Fed Board of Govenors? Since when will NY cede any power to a southern bank? Ever!? The organization of the Fed was a long time coming after the Civil War. Listen Ken, that war is over. Not only that, you had former Princeton Prof Emeritus Bernanke and the Dartmouth "Hammer" Paulson and you were still giving them grief!!?
Lewis appeared incompetent, full of hubris, and either completely arrogant or incredibly naive/inept in the "Meltdown" documentary. Lewis was completely out of his league, and deserves what he gets. He will probably walk away with a fortune, but deserves to rot in jail crying in shame for the rest of his life.
Fuck you Ken Lewis.
kenny getting out of dodge before the whole system implodes this guy aint that dumb crook yes dumb no
Jump you fuckers!!!!!!!
Yes, let us all eat cake. Getting sick and tired of bread and circuses, and cake.
@careless whisper "He overpaid for MER. He lied to his shareholders. He got rolled by Paulson".
Exactly.
Go back and look at that tape of Lewis and Thain post the MER deal. He was coerced? Then give him an Oscar for Best Peformance by a Banksta in a Lead Role. That press conference was a lovefest. Listen when the reporter in the back (was that you Tyler?) shouts out "Get a room!"
Is the bar set so low for "good guys" and heroes that a total lack of backbone and character, mixed with a fragile but hungry ego is "good enough"? Whither America?
"mission accomplished" - KL
what is that comcast and NBC story.
If the gubbermint thinks that loser's head will be enough to appease me then they are out of their gourds. I'm on strike mofos, until I start seeing dozens of high level executions per day.
"I always end my summer in the mountains"
just like Julie Andrews
He could have done that back in Dec,after invoking the MAC clause,and publicly stating that he was threatened with removal(if he was threatened indeed). And that he has decided to resign to protect his shareholders.He would have left with dignity. But greed made him thinx that everything is going to be alright,and little did he know,he doesn't belong to Wall St. elitest club that he so desperately wanted to join,and hence he didn't enjoy their protection. And finally he had to do with digrace what he could have done with honor.
Their customers come first?
If you mean in being ripped off with fees and high interest rates maybe.
it's a good thing americans have the cognitive ability of concrete.
Lewis also has already testified before congress and let Paulson and company off the hook by basically saying nobody made him do anything. And if they didn't make him do anything then he fucked the shareholders. He's so stupid. They played him like a violin.
He's also the asshole that convinced all the other bankers to take taxpayer money during that meeting when Paulson gathered everyone up in a room and said you have to take this money. I think I saw that on Frontline.
Ken Lewis sucks, and any difference in opinion is an uneducated one.
Lewis' pathetic letter is a perfect illustration of how dehumanizing corporate America can be. It is the equivalent of him pissing on the leg of the readers and telling them it's raining, full of lies and half-truths from beginning to end. His mission at B of A is complete, before the acquisitions of the last couple of years have been fully integrated, with the bank swimming in bad debt and only months removed from a sub $3 stock price. The fact that the SEC is pursuing him is not even mentioned. He pretends there is some kind of common culture across the monstrosity he and his predecessor Hugh McColl assembled, that it's still bears some resemblance to the little North Carolina bank he joined in 1969, that the serial acquisitions haven't always been about ego.
Of course, this is the same piece of shit that sat in front of Congress and said Bernanke suggested that if B of A invoked the MAC that its management might be removed but that he didn't feel threatened. What a pathological liar. What a douchebag. Imagine being a rational, decent, hard working person trying to work your way up in an organization run by such people.
Anon84646.....
I remember that press conference. I couldn't decide if Lewis and Thain reminded me more of Kim-il Sung and Kim Jong-il, or Sigfried and Roy.
What did he say. I will be able to walk into any bank of america and recieve a warm welcome from all the banksters while the customers are runnign around screaming. WTF is this 30 percent interest crap!!!!
When someone f's up and is arrogant enough not to come clean, my primal and hopefully a rational response is SHAME !!!
I don't care for your past achievements. You ether come clean with your shortcomings or let your present arrogance to speak for itself. SHAME Keny SHAME little Ken, by your age and with your experience the least you could do is grow some BALLS for a change, shame !!!
It's not my fault, they made me to do it.. common & I men common... so much for the due diligence to shareholders.
KENNY THE BAILOUT MOOCHER
(Minnie the Moocher, Cab Calloway)
WilliamBanzai7
Hey folks here's the story bout Kenny the bailout moocher
He was a low down Charlotte BAC hoochie coocher
His was the roughest toughest banking sob tale
But Kenny had an appetite as big as a securitized whale
Hidehidehidehi (hidehidehidehi)
Hodehodehodeho (hodehodehodeho)
Hedehedehedehe (hedehedehedehe)
Hidehidehideho (hidehidehideho)
One weekend he messed around with a bloke named Thain
He wanted the Merrill Bulls or he'd go completely insane
Thain took him round the block to Chinatown
And showed old Kenny how Wall Street gangstas kick the gong around
Hidehidehide-LEVEL 3 (hidehidehidehi)
Whoah (whoah)
Hedehedehede-GREED (hedehedehedehe)
A hidehidehideho CDO (hidehidehideho)
Kenny had a dream bout yet another financial supermarket
It would give him things that he was needin
It would give him a home built of gold and steel
A diamond studded learjet with platinum wheels
A hidehidehidehidehidehidehi (hidehidehidehidehidehidehi)
Hodehodehodehodehodehodeho (hodehodehodehodehodehodeho)
Thain sold Ken a herd of bonus cows and a boatload of subprime losses
Each meal Ken ate was full of surprising new derivative courses
Had a billion dollars worth of taxpayer nickels and dimes
He sat around and counted them all a million times
Hidehidehide-LEVEL 3 (hidehidehidehi)
Hodehodehode-CDO (hodehodehodeho)
Hedehedehede-GREED (hedehedehedehe)
Hidehidehide-HOSED (hidehidehideho)
POOOOOOR MAN
POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR MAN
POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR MAN
Lewis doesn't want to be a part of the New World Government which consists of banking interests only for the most part. He is refusing to become a MOONIE.
He was forced to merge.
Give this man a carrot not a stick.
He stuck his neck out for YOU!
Mr. Lewis is the perfect example of what is wrong with America....
This guy is highly delusional in the sense that he really
believes that he has done no wrong....
The question is how is it possible for someone such as Lewis to be solely in the "loan business"....and not know the ins and outs of US debt structure in general....particularly when he is head of one of the largest banks in the world ?
Secondly....Lewis did know about the issues concerning Merrill....and let there be no mistake....Lewis made his biggest mistake by becoming associated with a quickly dying business model....the brokerage model....
The new brokerage model is the personal computer.
Today....a savy individual can buy and sell stock for 20 cents per 100 units....and get core information on any company for free.....
The end product that Lewis is hopeful for costs more than 100X what is necessary....
In other words the Merrill model is dead....
The exchange itself has just become software....all it does is electronically time stamp and rename the owner....this costs almost nothing TODAY...and tomorrow will cost even less....
Want proof.....all one needs to do is to quickly examine the BATS exchange....and the new Worden securities software model....and this is available today....How about tomorrow ?
And about the character of this man....
Here is a man who most quickly foreclosed on millions of homes....more than any other institution....
Here is a man who could care less about bumping interest rates from less than 10% to more than 30% just because he thought he could squeeze his clients that built his company as interest rates went to 0%....when his firm was and is getting 0% money from their taxes....
Here is a man who vacations like Bush.....and thought that his pay should be 500X that of his co-workers....
Here is a man that thinks he still commands respect....
Draw your own conclusions....as I know you will....
I fear we are missing the forest because the trees are in the way.
Insiders selling at record levels (including Mr. Lewis I'm sure), the market is out of whack with real values and he has a beatiful golden parachute, they all do.
Mack is leaving Morgan Stanley, now Lewis.
I believe we are watching the rats flee the sinking ship after stripping it bare.
Next stop should be the real crash and ultimate chaos.
Enjoy your retirement Mr. Lewis, hope you treat your staff well so they don't sell out your alarm codes to the bankrupted customers that are standing in awe of your greatness.
Lewis is a seething parasite who was hand-picked to be become one of the head Globalists cheerleaders for every agenda they proffer. Just look at their website. All the spirit of "inclusion and diversity" bullshit, the 50 trillion they will spend to "clean up the environment" [to sanctify their guilt for the unmitigated prosperity borne of the American experiment] and how they plan to plough back 95% of their taxpayer funded blood transfusion right back into the same degenerate neighborhoods over the next decade to guarantee we repeat the financial plagues of 2008 and perpetuate their sinister destruction of the species known as the American middle class. I'll be long the guillotine manf's for years to come:
It’s a interesting news,i like it.Additionally,wellcome to my website prettyboots.org ,here are so many UGGS On Sale such as:UGG Elsey wedge|UGG Elsey wedge black|UGG Elsey wedge chestnut|UGG Elsey wedge espresso|UGG Langley|UGG Langley black|UGG Langley chestnut|UGG Lo Pro Button|UGG Lo Pro Button black|UGG Lo Pro Button blue|UGG Lo Pro Button cream|UGG Mayfaire|UGG Mayfaire black|UGG Mayfaire chestnut|UGG Mayfaire chocolate|UGG Mayfaire sand|UGG Mayfaire red|UGG Nightfall|UGG Nightfall black|UGG Nightfall chestnut|UGG Nightfall chocolate|UGG Nightfall sand|UGG Sundance II|UGG Sundance II black|UGG Sundance II chestnut|UGG Sundance II chocolate|UGG Sundance II sand|UGG Ultimate Bind|UGG Ultimate Bind black|UGG Ultimate Bind chestnut|UGG Ultimate Bind chocolate|UGG Ultimate Bind sand|UGG Ultra Short|UGG Ultra Short chocolate|UGG Ultra Short sand|UGG Ultra Short black|UGG Ultra Tall|UGG Ultra Tall chestnut|UGG Ultra Tall sand|UGG Ultra Tall balck|UGG Ultra Tall chocolate|UGG Suede|UGG Suede black|UGG Suede chestnut|UGG Suede sand|UGG upside|UGG upside black|UGG upside chestnut|UGG upside mocha|UGG Roxy Tall|UGG Roxy Tall black|UGG Roxy Tall chestnut|UGG Roxy Tall chocolate|UGG Roxy Tall sand|UGG seline|UGG seline black|UGG seline chestnut|UGG Corinth Boots|UGG Liberty|UGG Liberty black|UGG Liberty cigar|UGG Highkoo|UGG Highkoo amber brown|UGG Highkoo espresso|UGG Highkoo grey|UGG Highkoo black|UGG Knightsbridge|UGG Knightsbridge black|UGG Knightsbridge chestnut|UGG Knightsbridge grey|UGG Knightsbridge sand|UGG Knightsbridge chocolate|UGG Adirondack|UGG Adirondack brown|UGG Adirondack chocolate|UGG Suburb Crochet|UGG Suburb Crochet black|UGG Suburb Crochet chestnut|UGG Suburb Crochet chocolate|UGG Suburb Crochet grey|UGG Suburb Crochet white|UGG Kensington|UGG Kensington black|UGG Kensington chestnut|UGG Roseberry|UGG Roseberry black|UGG Roseberry sand|UGG Gaviota|UGG Gaviota black|UGG Gaviota chestnut|UGG Gaviota chocolate|UGG Desoto|UGG Desoto black|UGG Desoto chestnut|UGG Desoto chocolate|UGG Brookfield Tall|UGG Brookfield Tall black|UGG Brookfield Tall chocolate|UGG Gissella|UGG Gissella black|UGG Gissella chestnut|UGG Gissella espresso|UGG Payton|UGG Payton black|UGG Payton chestnut|UGG Payton red|UGG Bailey Button Triplet|UGG Bailey Button Triplet black|UGG Bailey Button Triplet chestnut|UGG Bailey Button Triplet chocolate|UGG Bailey Button Triplet grey|UGG Bailey Button Triplet sand|There are so much style of cheap uggs for sale ,so once you go to my website you will be very surprise.