In the past, I've covered Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove's inane ramblings about how fantastically awesome Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) CEO Ken Lewis is. Last month he called Mr. Lewis "phenomenally good" and his notes to investors are beginning to have more in common with 12-year old girls' Valentines to Zac Efron than conventional research.But he has outdone himself this time. While Bank of America's chairman of the board goes on a cruise instead of devoting all his energy to finding a successor, Mr. Bove has found the solution to replacing Ken Lewis: "In sum, Mr. Lewis was a key architect in the creation and management of Bank of America. He knows this company better than anyone else and he knows how to operate it," Bove wrote in a research note issued this morning. "At this point in the company's history, this is the type of leader needed. Convincing him to return would be the biggest morale builder that management could get."
The argument for keeping Ken Lewis on as CEO is that the company is such a mess that no qualified candidate will take it on -- which is a bit like letting someone who stole your soda keep it because he urinated in it. The fact is that Ken Lewis has taken a powerful bank and made it a ward of the state -- ripping off shareholders, the United States government, and consumers in the process.
Still: If Bank of America's board of directors can't find a more competent replacement with less baggage than Ken Lewis, then Ken Lewis isn't the problem. The board of directors is.
Closing Bell: When We All Love the PIIGS (NBG, SQNM, PG, ERTS, KO)
Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21
Chasing Value: Hasbro Earnings Makes My Point
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2009 @ 10:12PM
Raymond R. Murray said...
Ken Lewis is laughing all the way to the bank, pardon the pun but this bank should be allowed to quietly go away along with the bad management and the board of directors that are incompenent.