Who

Formerly the president of Goldman Sachs and the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, Thain was named chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch in December 2007. In September 2008, he announced plans to sell the firm for $50 billion to Bank of America.

Backstory

A math and science geek from a small town in Illinois, Thain attended MIT and Harvard Business School before starting at Goldman Sachs in July of 1979. By the late 1980s, he was running the firm's mortgage securities department, and in the early '90s he moved to Europe to run Goldman's European banking operations. Thain returned to 85 Broad in 1994 after he was tapped to serve as the investment bank's CFO, an appointment that his mentor, Jon Corzine, had championed. But by the time Thain was promoted to president and co-COO five years later, his relationship with Corzine had crumbled. A fierce opponent of the plan to take Goldman public, a position that allied him with Hank Paulson, Thain faced off against Corzine, who was CEO at the time. Thain ultimately lost the argument, of course, and after it became clear that he'd been boxed out of the top job in favor of Lloyd Blankfein—and would have to contend with the No. 2 slot for the foreseeable future—a restless Thain moved on.

In 2004, John Reed, the former Citigroup chairman and interim CEO of the NYSE, asked Thain to consider taking over the exchange as "an opportunity to give something back to the system" following the Dick Grasso debacle. Thain accepted the offer and over his three-year tenure he presided over some of the most sweeping changes in the exchange's two-century history, transforming what was once a private club into a publicly-traded entity, introducing advanced new technology, and making the exchange truly global platform. In 2005, he oversaw the merger with the electronic trading firm Archipelago; two years later he orchestrated the deal that joined the NYSE with Euronext. Thain headed up the New York Stock Exchange until November 2007, when he stepped down to assume the top job at Merrill Lynch, following the ouster of Stan O'Neal.

Of note

It was Thain's success reviving the NYSE following the tumultuous exit of Dick Grasso that made him such a hot prospect in 2007, when several banks were conducting high-profile searches for new chief executives in the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown. A consensus builder and thoughtful problem-solver, "Mr. Fix It" was initially considered the front-runner to take over Citigroup from the recently deposed Chuck Prince. He turned down the job in favor of the top spot at Merrill Lynch, which was reeling from billions in write-downs and increasing disenchantment under the hard-nosed, cost-cutting Stan O'Neal, who many felt had undermined the culture of Mother Merrill.

Despite Thain's best efforts to undo the damage and right the ship—he announced billions in additional write-downs, raised capital to bolster the firm's balance sheet, and slashed thousands of jobs—by the fall of 2008 it became clear that Merrill would need to pursue a more radical plan to prevent the firm from suffering the same fate as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. On September 15, 2008, Merrill announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Bank of America for $50 billion. Thain will become president of global banking, securities and wealth management of the combined company once the deal is complete.

Keeping score

Thain collected $86 million, including a signing bonus, after his first month of work last December. He also he have substantial portfolio of Goldman Stock as well, which was accrued during his nearly two-decade career there. 

Personal

Thain met his wife, Carmen, when they were students at MIT; they have four kids: Zack, Nicole, Victoria, and Alex. Until recently, the Thains lived in a brick Georgian-style mansion on the border between Rye and Harrison. In 2006, Thain purchased the duplex apartment at 740 Park Avenue that had been owned by the late philanthropist Enid Haupt for $27.5 million.

No joke

BMW has a diehard fan in Thain. He owns five of them.