Stan O’Neal’s legacy to Merrill Lynch
How Stan O’Neal transformed Merrill Lynch
“It’s powerful if you have an organization on the same page”
How O’Neal went from the production line to the front line of investment banking
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“We want to create a strong bench and pipelines of brainpower. People must have a bond with the company that goes beyond compensation. We have created a performance-based culture.” Ahmass Fakahany |
“We’ve never had such an outstanding group of leaders across our product silos in the history of the firm,” says O’Neal. “And today we have a common commitment among all the senior people to that purpose. And it’s not just my vision, it’s a vision that’s bought into and shared by the entire executive committee.”
Another member of the executive committee describes it thus: “We chose to be a really global firm. We are a young and diverse team but we have all worked together for the best part of 15 years and are tight as a drum. As an executive committee we talk as one.”
Ask O’Neal to describe deals that he is particularly proud of and he will talk about the way those individuals brought different attributes to the table that made the deal a success; other CEOs are more likely to discuss their own role in securing a prized mandate against the odds.