By David Mildenberg and Michael J. Moore Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Brian Moynihan ascended to the top spot at Bank of America Corp. by accepting four job assignments in a year and surviving a public search process that had him all but disqualified by some critics after his performance before a congressional hearing last month. “Many of you know him because he’s been in so many different jobs,” retiring Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis said yesterday in introducing Moynihan as his successor to 750 employees at the bank’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Hopefully he will be in this job much longer than the last three or four.” Since November of 2008, Moynihan, 50, has served as head of consumer banking , general counsel and head of investment banking twice. That experience, along with 16 years at Bank of America and a predecessor company, proved pivotal when the board tapped him to succeed Lewis, 62, as the head of the largest U.S. bank. Some directors felt strongly that someone inside the bank should be tapped, rather than naming an external candidate unfamiliar with the company, according to one person familiar with the private deliberations who declined to be named. “I’m glad they went with someone who knows the company and who isn’t going to restructure and shake things up right away, because Bank of America just needs some quiet time,” said Nancy Bush , an independent bank analyst at NAB Research LLC. “He may swap some players around, but he’s not going to lop off any businesses.” On the Bench Moynihan’s adaptability traces back to his childhood in the Ohio River town of Marietta, Ohio, about 100 miles southwest of Pittsburgh on the West Virginia border. There he was one of eight children and a willing reserve on his high school basketball team. “He was a total team player, a very unselfish individual,” said Ed Paxton, Moynihan’s high school basketball coach. “His playing time was limited, but that was because at that point in time we had very successful teams. But he was always someone you could count on when you put him in.” Moynihan attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, then went to the University of Notre Dame’s School of Law. He played freshman football at Brown, before switching to rugby, helping win an Ivy League title during his junior year, said John LeClaire , a senior partner at Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston and a friend of Moynihan’s since his days at Brown. “He wasn’t one to look for the spotlight, but his way of speaking in class would highlight just how bright he was,” said Cathy Chromulak, a Pittsburgh lawyer who attended Notre Dame with Moynihan. “He was well-liked by his classmates, because he was genuinely just a good, decent guy.” Providence Firm After law school Moynihan returned to Providence to join the Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge law firm. “He and his wife liked the lifestyle of Providence,” said Duncan Johnson , an Edwards Angell partner. Moynihan grew from a shy, soft-spoken 24-year-old into a more polished, business- savvy lawyer who caught the eye of Fleet Boston Financial Corp. CEO Terry Murray , Johnson said. “He had an ability to see the strategic development of what was coming next in financial services, which distinguished him from people who are just very smart,” Johnson said. Murray hired him as associate general counsel after nine years at the law firm, then promoted Moynihan as the Providence- based lender expanded to become New England’s biggest bank, said Bush. “Brian has been in Boston long enough to be part of the Boston Irish crowd, which tends be pretty tough,” Bush said. “When he gets honed in on something, he sticks with it.” Fleet Acquisition When Bank of America acquired Fleet Boston in 2004, Moynihan was named head of the combined company’s wealth- management unit, the highest ranking post of any former Fleet executive, spokesman Robert Stickler said. The unit was based in Boston as part of a pledge to retain at least as many employees in New England as before the acquisition, a unique accord in Bank of America’s history. “He understands both the bank business and the broader social and political context,” said U.S. Rep. Barney Frank , the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee. Banks must understand “what went wrong and try to accept it, and I think Bank of America has been trying to do that.” After three years leading the brokerage and wealth unit, Moynihan moved to head the investment bank in late 2007 after Lewis dismissed his longtime colleague Gene Taylor . He was in charge of the unit during the collapse of Bear Stearns & Co. in March 2008 and when the U.S. stepped in to rescue American International Group Inc. Crisis Management “I remember what a hands-on, aggressive manager he was during a time when we would regularly be on the phone at 11 p.m. and then back on at 5 a.m. the next day,” said Bruce Thompson , Bank of America’s head of global capital markets. “There was a real question of whether the system could hold up globally.” In December 2008, Moynihan was named general counsel in the midst of the Merrill Lynch & Co. acquisition. His move stemmed from the bank’s decision to dismiss about 20 senior-level executives to cut costs, including former General Counsel Tim Mayopoulos , Moynihan told the House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee earlier this year. It also kept Moynihan at the bank after he had rejected Lewis’s order that he move to Wilmington, Delaware, to run the lender’s credit-card business. Thain’s Departure A month later, Lewis moved Moynihan back to head the investment bank and wealth-management units, replacing former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain . While more than three dozen former Merrill bankers and traders left during the next several months, such defections have since slowed and the bank’s capital markets and investment bank are profiting from a rebound in demand. Moynihan and Tom Montag , president of global banking and markets, set the strategy that has helped steer the bank’s capital markets and investment bank’s record performances this year, Thompson said. Moynihan’s Nov. 17 congressional testimony on the Merrill acquisition sparked criticism from Representative Elijah Cummings and other lawmakers who questioned why bank executives didn’t disclose more information before shareholders voted on the merger. “I don’t know who you think we are, but I find some of the things you said not believable,” Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, told Moynihan. Other Candidates Among critics of the CEO choice is hedge-fund manager Tom Brown of Second Curve Capital LLC, who said Moynihan’s background didn’t compare with potential outside candidates such as Citigroup Inc. director Michael O’Neill . “What they need is somebody to really come in, shape it up, improve performance,” Brown said. “Brian Moynihan is a really great guy, but he’s not the right guy to lead Bank of America.” Moynihan told employees yesterday he is confident of his ability to restore Bank of America’s image with customers and investors. “I’ve had investment bankers, I’ve had brokers and financial advisers, I’ve had tellers, I’ve had proof operators, which are the people who process all those checks, I’ve had all different kinds of people in my life,” Moynihan said last month at a leadership presentation hosted by Pepperdine University. “And the one truism is the people who actually do the work will tell you what you’re doing right or wrong.” To contact the reporters on this story: David Mildenberg in Charlotte at dmildenberg@bloomberg.net ; Michael J. Moore in New York at mmoore55@bloomberg.net .
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Moynihan Rises to Top Spot at Bank of America After Four Jobs in One Year
