O'Neal gets key spot at Merrill Lynch.

Newly appointed to presidency of the brokerage unit, black banker may lead CEO pack

Merrill Lynch & Co. has named its CFO, E. Stanley O'Neal, to lead the company's brokerage operations, and industry analysts immediately speculated that the move directly positions O'Neal to become Merrill's next CEO.

Identified by BLACK ENTERPRISE as one of the top 50 blacks in corporate America in our February 2000 issue, O'Neal, 48, has served as one of Merrill's executive vice presidents since 1997 and as CFO since 1998. One of the highest-ranking blacks on Wall Street, he will now oversee 14,200 stockbrokers as president of the U.S. Private Client Group. With more than 700 branches, the group is the nation's largest brokerage operation, according to company spokesperson Richard Silverman. O'Neal could not be reached for comment.

Merrill Lynch is a leading global financial management and advisory company with a presence in 43 countries across six continents. With total client assets of more than $1.5 trillion, the company offers services that include personal financial planning, security underwriting and investment banking.

O'Neal has ascended to an extremely high-profile position. A Harvard Business School M.B.A., he joined Merrill as an investment banker in 1986. He joined the company from General Motors, where he worked his way up from the assembly plant to become a member of the automaker's treasury department.

In his 14 years at Merrill, O'Neal has aided the company in its rise as a major player in the finance industry. It's estimated that nearly half of the company's revenues are from the private client group. O'Neal is the first person to be named to oversee Merrill's brokers without having been a broker himself.

O'Neal's move may be an indication that he is the likely heir to the chief executive's spot. Company Chairman and CEO David H. Komansky will retire when he reaches 65 years of age in four years. The president's seat has been vacant at the company since Herbert Allison resigned last July. Komansky has said Merrill plans to pull a new president from the ranks, but that announcement is a few years off.

Other company veterans rumored to have president and future CEO potential include Jeffrey Peek, asset management group head, and Thomas Davis, corporate and institutional business unit leader. But by all accounts, O'Neal has tremendous support internally, including Komansky's, who has said O'Neal has the diverse experience and business knowledge that will make him successful as president of the brokerage unit. "[Stan O'Neal] is ideally suited to lead the premier retail brokerage network in the world," Komansky said in a company statement.