7/24/2001
NEW YORK, David H. Komansky, chairman and chief executive
officer, today announced that the Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MER)
Board of Directors has elected E. Stanley O'Neal president and chief operating
officer of the corporation, effective immediately. Mr. O'Neal also was elected
to the Board of Directors.
Mr. O'Neal, 49, has served most recently as president of
Merrill Lynch's U.S. Private Client Group (USPC), which provides wealth
management services to individuals and businesses across the U.S. Previously,
he served as the corporation's chief financial officer and co-headed the
Corporate and Institutional Client Group (CICG).
Speaking on behalf of the Board, Mr. Komansky said:
"Through his broad experience across the many
facets of our business, Stan O'Neal has demonstrated keen strategic vision and
a great ability to inspire and lead people."
"In every position he has held at Merrill Lynch, he
has shown a passion for excellence and market leadership," Mr. Komansky
added. "His dedication to outstanding performance on behalf of our
clients, shareholders and employees makes him the ideal person to join me in
leading our company."
In his new position, vacant since July 1999, Mr. O'Neal
will work with Mr. Komansky to direct the worldwide operations of the company's
three primary businesses: corporate and institutional, private client and
investment management. He will continue to head USPC until a successor is
named.
"I am honored to take on this leadership role,"
Mr. O'Neal said. "Merrill Lynch is an exceptional company with exceptional
people. Together, we will build upon a long and impressive record of growth as
one of the world's premier brands in financial services."
Mr. O'Neal joined Merrill Lynch as a director in
investment banking in 1986. In 1991, he became managing director in charge of
high-yield finance and restructuring and assumed added responsibilities in 1994
for real estate and project finance and equity private placement. During his
leadership of the high-yield business, Merrill Lynch was ranked number one in
U.S. domestic high-yield issuance from 1991 to 1994.
In 1995, he became head of the capital markets group,
with responsibility for all debt and equity new issue activity worldwide.
During this period, he also headed the client strategies group, which provided
specialized portfolio consulting and investment advisory services to institutional
clients worldwide.
Mr. O'Neal became co-head of CICG in April 1997, at which
time he was also elected an executive vice president of Merrill Lynch &
Co., Inc. Eleven months later, in March 1998, he became chief financial
officer, a position he held until becoming president of USPC in February 2000.
Mr. O'Neal began his career at General Motors Corp. as a
cooperative education student, including work on an automotive assembly line,
at the company's Doraville, Ga.,
plant. He continued his employment there while earning a B.S. degree from Kettering
University (formerly General Motors
Institute). After receiving an M.B.A. degree with distinction in finance from Harvard
University in 1978, Mr. O'Neal
joined the General Motors treasury department, where he served in a succession
of positions in New York and Madrid,
including general assistant treasurer responsible for mergers and acquisitions
and domestic financing activities.
Mr. O'Neal is a vice chairman of the Securities Industry
Association, a member of the Capital Markets Advisory Committee of the New York
Stock Exchange, and a director of the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Among his civic activities, he serves on the boards of
the National Urban League, Ronald McDonald House of New York, Catalyst and the Buckley
School. He also serves on an
advisory council to the Bronx Preparatory
Charter School,
a New York City public school that
provides a college preparatory curriculum to low-income students.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial
management and advisory companies with offices in 44 countries and total client
assets of more than $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global
underwriter of debt and equity securities and a leading strategic advisor to
corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Through
Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest
managers of financial assets. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please
visit www.ml.com.
7/24/2001
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