Former Merrill Lynch CEO and connoisseur of finely decorated offices John Thain obeyed a judge's order that he spill the beans on Merrill's $3.6 billion in bonuses. See, Thain claimed he wasn't allowed to discuss the extravagant bonuses—which came right before Merrill announced a $15 billion 4th quarter loss—which pissed off Cuomo, who then filed a motion to force Thain to speak up. The Daily News reports, "Dodging a press gauntlet, Thain slipped into the lower Manhattan tower that houses Cuomo's offices through a subway entrance." But Thain still left through a back entrance, which was perfect opportunity for some photo ops. Thain's former bosses at Bank of America (which took over Merrill) were also subpoenaed by Cuomo. more ›

When Andrew Cuomo doesn't get what he wants, he goes to court! Apparently the Attorney General was trying to get former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain to detail the extravagant bonuses he gave in a deposition—but Thain refused, claiming Bank of America (which took over Merrill) said he couldn't discuss them. So now Cuomo has "filed a motion in New York state court that would force Thain to provide details" and says Thain's refusal "obstructs" the AG's office's investigation. Merrill Lynch distributed $3.6 billion in bonuses—seemingly moving up their bonus schedule—just before announcing a $15 billion loss for the 4th quarter of 2008. more ›

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain to further spill about the bonuses given last year. Thain has come under fire for going ahead with $4 billion in bonuses last December, as the company was about to report a 4th quarter loss of $15 billion. Cuomo, who has subpoenaed Thain, said, "The fact that Merrill Lynch appears to have moved up the timetable to pay bonuses before its merger with Bank of America is troubling to say the least and warrants further investigation." Bank of America, which is taking over Merrill, fired Thain last week and claims it had no legal right to stop Thain from issuing the bonuses; Thain said in a memo to employees, "The total bonus pool was also substantially less than the amount allowed under our merger agreement." more ›

Fired Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is going on the offensive, claiming that Bank of America knew that he and other ML execs were giving out $15 billion in bonuses, not to mention BoA knew Merrill was losing $15 billion during the 4th quarter. But did BoA, which announced it was taking over Merrill in September, know about his $1 million office decorating account? Oh, Thain claims that was a mistake. Clusterstock has the leaked memo Thain sent to ML employees—"We were completely transparent with Bank of America. They learned about these losses when we did."—and CNBC will broadcast an interview with Thain at 4:15 p.m. BoA, which is getting $45 billion in TARP money, tells CNBC that Thain and Merrill's "compensation committee made the decision on the amount and timing of year-end compensation. We had no legal right to challenge it." more ›

New documents show was Merrill Lynch was in its final days before getting swallowed up by Bank of America last year, its CEO John Thain was spending lavishly on all sorts of personal expenses—hello $87,000 rug! The Daily Beast reveals that Thain hired celebrity designer Michael Smith to refurbish his office for $800,000—eight times what Smith is getting paid to redesign the White House right now. While telling employees to spend with self-control, Thain paid his driver a total of $230,000 in salary, overtime and bonus—double what many executives paid their drivers. One luxury Thain scaled back on during the year Merrill Lynch lost $12 billion was his usual multi-million dollar annual bonus, after heavy pressure from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Now, Thain has just announced that he will step down as CEO a month after the merger takes place. more ›

get bonuses this year. A NY Times editorial, which acknowledges that Thain's actions probably saved Merrill, says, "Bankers and financial regulators will ultimately have to design a pay structure that rewards bankers for the performance of their strategies over several years, not just the current year or quarter." more ›