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Bank of America Corp. chairman Walter Massey, reportedly on vacation while the bank searches for a new chief executive, “is reachable by our company and the process is continuing,” a bank spokesman told the Observer today.
The Charlotte bank expects to make a decision on departing CEO Ken Lewis' replacement by Thanksgiving, spokesman Scott Silvestri said, declining to comment on Massey's whereabouts. The holiday is Nov. 26 this year.
USA Today reported that Massey is on vacation on a ship and will not be reachable until Nov. 23, citing Morehouse College, where Massey is president emeritus. Massey is leading a search committee composed of six board members.
Morehouse College representatives did not return calls seeking comment. Massey became Bank of America's chairman in April after shareholders voted to strip the title from Lewis.
Although under fire for his Jan. 1 acquisition of Merill Lynch & Co., Lewis, 62, surprised the board Sept. 30 by announcing his decision to leave by year's end. The board is considering inside and outside candidates.
The two leading internal candidates are chief risk officer Greg Curl, 61, and consumer banking head Brian Moynihan, 50. If the board picks an insider, it's not likely to move until after Moynihan testifies Tuesday before Congress about his role in the Merrill Lynch deal, a source familiar with the situation said.
Moynihan was the bank's general counsel last December when it sought to escape the Merrill deal. Ultimately, the bank proceeded after government pressure and the promise of additional assistance.
Sources familiar with the board say directors have struggled to settle on a candidate, with some favoring current executives and others preferring to go outside the company. Some directors are concerned the search process will not be viewed favorably by investors. Regulators are expected to have a veto on the bank's selection.
An outside candidate highlighted on CNBC today was New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs CEO who lost his re-election bid last week. But in an interview with Bloomberg News, Corzine said he had not spoken with the bank. He declined to say whether he was interested in returning to Wall Street after leaving office.
“I've been reading books and never really thought about that,” Corzine told Bloomberg. As for his future plans, “I haven't given it a great deal of thought, and when I figure it out you'll be the first to know,” he said.
Silvestri, the Bank of America spokesman, said the bank does not comment on speculation.
In a report today, bank analyst Dick Bove of Rochdale Securities said the government was to blame for pushing out Lewis and making his job undesirable to outside candidates. The bank has received $45 billion in government loans, exposing it to extra scrutiny of its board, management and compensation.
“It is clear that the government wants an outsider or a replacement candidate from inside would have been selected by now,” Bove, an outspoken Lewis backer, wrote. “However, outsiders who have credibility can see no reason to take a post where they may be hounded to be government automatons.”
