CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ken Lewis, a man who thrived on scoring the next big deal, found himself sunk by one.
Lewis was stripped of his title as Bank of America’s chairman Wednesday when shareholders voted to separate that job from the chief executive position. He’ll stay on as CEO, but the loss of his chairman’s role is a direct result of the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Most of the shareholders who spoke at BofA’s annual meeting Wed nesday questioned Lewis’ decision to agree to a government-brokered purchase of the struggling investment bank. The deal placed Lewis, who had been chairman and CEO of the Charlotte-based bank since 2001, on shaky ground.
Board member Walter Massey, president emeritus of Morehouse College in Atlanta, will become BofA’s chairman. Shareholders re-elected all 18 board members, including Lewis.
The rebuke from the company’s shareholders was a stunning turn of events for Lewis, who a year ago was at the top of the banking industry — and whose job as CEO is still marked by uncertainty.
Shareholders narrowly voted at the bank’s annual meeting Wednesday to split the jobs following months of rancor over the Merrill Lynch acquisition. After the deal was sealed Jan. 1, Merrill Lynch reported $15 billion in fourth-quarter losses and it was learned that Bank of America had approved the early payout of billions of dollars in bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees.
Lewis has spent much of this year defending his actions — and did so again during the angry four-hour meeting. He said the companies are providing “the positive counterbalance to our traditional banking businesses, which at this point of the business cycle are under much more stress from rising credit losses.”
“Countrywide and Merrill Lynch are two of the most important reasons Bank of America is the most profitable financial-services company in the United States so far this year,” Lewis said.
Results of the voting were delayed for several hours, and BofA issued a statement that the board of directors had met Wednesday, elected Massey as chairman and unanimously voted to keep Lewis as CEO.
The bank said the shareholder proposal to separate the chairman and CEO jobs had passed 50.34 percent to 49.66 percent; it was the only shareholder proposal to be approved.
Big investors including California’s employee pension fund had called for ousting Lewis and fellow directors at the meeting, which was attended by more than 2,000 people.
Shareholders lined up early in the gathering to speak at microphones, with many hurling criticism at Lewis and the Bank of America board for the government-brokered purchase of Merrill Lynch.
“I find it incredible you didn’t have the guts to stand up to the U.S. government,” said Judith Koenick of Chevy Chase, Md., who said she lost thousands of dollars when BofA shares plunged after the Merrill Lynch purchase.
