Power struggle at Merrill led to ouster of No. 2 executive.

Financial News, August, 2003

Merrill Lynch Chief Executive Stan O'Neal forced this week's sudden retirement of Thomas Patrick, his No. 2 executive, after Patrick persistently advocated a succession plan that O'Neal disagreed with, according to people familiar with the executive-suite spat.In discussions with Merrill directors and other officials, Patrick was advocating the appointment of one of his own longtime colleagues, Arshad Zakaria, to be designated president and heir-apparent to O'Neal, the same people said.

Zakaria is currently head of Merrill's global-markets and investment-banking division. Patrick, who held the title of executive vice chairman, finance and administration, spoke up in Zakaria's favor as recently as Merrill's latest board meeting Monday, they added. O'Neal, who...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.