Alliance Berstein: Another huge financial firm pushes out CEO

Just when you thought that the trend of sacrificing financial CEOs due to poor earnings was over, one of the most widely known people on Wall Street got kicked to the curb. Lew Sanders, CEO of huge money management firm Alliance Bernstein (NYSE: AB) is gone, and a guy who was about to be without a job replaced him.

According to the company's press release, "Alliance Bernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) today announced that its Board of Directors has named Peter S. Kraus Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Kraus, 56, succeeds Lewis A. Sanders, 62, who is retiring from the firm after 40 years of service."

That is not the whole story. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) writes that Kraus was not likely to keep his job at Merrill Lynch as it was merged into Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). "Mr. Kraus drew some resentment for terms in his contract that triggered a payment of as much as $25 million with the takeover."

AB's assets have been falling. At the end of September, they were $590 billion. By the end of October, the number had dropped to $482 billion. The fact of the matter is that almost every investment management firm has been losing assets due to the falling markets and redemptions. That does not appear to be enough of an excuse to keep Sanders in place after 40 years at the company.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.