November 2, 2007
One down and two looking a bit shaky
Time once again to revist my list of bank CEOs at risk.
Of the three I originally listed - Chuck Prince of Citigroup, Jimmy Cayne of Bear Stearns and Stan O’Neal of Merrill Lynch - we have already lost Mr O’Neal.
This has been a bad week too for Mr Cayne, who was the subject of an engrossing story in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that suggested he not only spent a lot of time on the golf course and a\t the bridge table during the summer turmoil but he also has a penchant for smoking dope (which he denies).
As the week ends, the pressure is also growing on Mr Prince. Deteriorating conditions in the structured credit market mean that Citi is likely to have to mark down further its holdings of collateralised debt obligations. News has just broken that it will hold an emergency board meeting this week.
Are we heading for a trifecta of resignations?
