Ex-Merrill Lynch CEO: Whoops, I Should Have Gone To IKEA
Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is famous for, among other things, spending $1.2 million to redecorate his office as the company was going down in flames. For some reason, Thain's shopping spree of $87,000 area rugs, a $18,000 desk, and a $35,000 chest of drawers didn't go over well.
"I think I could buy all of the area rugs in stock at my local IKEA for $87,000, and have enough money left over to buy all my fellow shoppers an all-you-can eat Swedish Meatball feast," our own Ben Popken wrote back in the day. Thain, with the benefit of hindsight, now agrees.
"We decorated it in the style that Merrill Lynch offices were, which was very, very nice," Thain said yesterday during a speech in Philadelphia. "That was a mistake, and I'm sorry that I did that. If I had that to do over again, I'd furnish it in Ikea." His remark was met with laughter and applause at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School.
..."John, stop by Ikea anytime," said Mona Astra Liss, a spokeswoman for the retailer, known for assemble-it-yourself furniture and in-store restaurants. She offered to show "a wealth of furniture choices" for home and office, "and feed you Swedish meatballs, too." Ikea, founded in Sweden and registered in Leiden in the Netherlands, sells a 3-drawer chest for $49.99.
See, he learns how to live on a budget now, after he's lost his job. Just like the rest of America.
Also, we would be remiss in not posting this ode to IKEA and its music video. Enjoy.
Thain Says He Should Have Furnished Merrill at Ikea [Bloomberg]
(Photo: Andy on Flickr)
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Comments:
Always brightens my day to see some Jonathan Coulton.
@huadpe: Me, too. I saw his show in Dallas this spring. Best. Concert. Ever. Truly. He's full of awesome.
Maybe he can get a job with Ikea.
Boy, what a jokester.
Sort of like the guy who just demolished his Lamborghini, quipping, "Next time, a Ford Focus!" amid much back-slapping. Before he drops by to pick up his replacement Ferrari.
He's just full of yuks, that lil' scamp!
Thain must be speaking at Wharton to advise the students as to what not to do. That was a proud and old company before sharks like Thain took it down.
@H3ion: Yes, advising them not to do anything obvious that will be used against them later. You think he'd have shopped at IKEA for any other reason?
Gee, its awfully funny that a bunch of legacy douchebags got a good laugh about actually deigning to think about furnishing their offices with Ikea. "HAHA, that's a good one Chauncey, now tell me again that time you had to eat a grilled cheese with the help..."
@Al Swearengen: Yeah, I don't think this is some sort of life-changing experience for him. If given the opportunity again, I don't think he WOULD shop at Ikea or be even more conscious on how he spends money. It was hyperbole to get a laugh, not an actual admission of wrong-doing. Anybody who thinks otherwise is probably as stupid as Thain.
"His remark was met with laughter and applause at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School."
How's this funny or commendable? The guy is a failure. He spent a fortune on petty office furnishings because he was out of touch with his responsibility as CEO and duty to his employees. Of course, failure has no consequence in the upper echelons of the white collar world, as there's golden parachutes to ensure the old boy network is pampered regardless of their incompetence. Oh yeah, Wharton School of Business... Preparing yet another generation of greedy corporate jerks who feel entitled to your respect.
@nuton2wheels:
While $1.2mil is a ton of money, it's pennies compared to Merrill Lynch's revenue. In 2007, Merill's revenue was over $11bil; it's 2008 revenue was $16bil. While it lost money (a ton) both years, the $1.2mil for the office was a bucket of water out of the ocean. It's not like the expense really had any material effect on the bottom line, nor did it likely have ANY effect on the employees. Still a boneheaded move while the company was losing billions, but it's not like it was, relatively, much money.
I cannot believe that someone would book this douche to speak anywhere especially a school.
@Kimaroo - 20% More Kitty Added!: You actually just get a much better grade of grilled cheese when you're rich. Rustic sourdoughs made by real rustics, and sharp cheddars. Instead of butter, they fry it in truffle oil.
@Al Swearengen: Legacy douchebags is probably my new phrase of the day. I'm thinking about law school and terrified of this sort of person infecting me.
Maybe he should have been thinking about ways to save money before he ran his company into the ground. Kinda sad for all of the people who lost their jobs and investors that lost money that he thinks he can joke about it now. I'm sure he doesn't have to use IKEA to furnish his home.
@SpiderJerusalem: Aww, Spider. I know a few legacy/trust fund kids and they're not ALL entitled jerks.
@Trai_Dep: If not in the middle of the realization that our country's economy has centered on fantastic real estate prices for the last 15 years, when could there be a better time for a hearty laugh about avarice? I, for one, know that my knee was slappethed and much chortling was to be had. /sarcasm
I would love to see Thain emphatically deliver his moneyball punchline and watch it fall completely flat to a silent audience. Cue the crickets. Thain clears throat. Re-delivers punchline. Fruit is thrown.
If Thain was spending his own money to decorate his office, he never would have wasted that much money.
The Ikea song was cute but I absolutely cannot stand those ultra-literal slideshow amateur videos people keep making on YouTube. "Oh the lyrics say 'divorced' so let's show a divorce lawyer's office!"
Also, Thain == tool.
Yeah...but the douchebag would never be able to put it together himself. Hehehe
@Mr.Duke: Well...it's possible. Please note that rich people buy stupid stuff like gold plated shark tanks.
Still...people forget that the business doesn't pay for it either. Business deduction...BAM! I have no clue what constitutes an ordinary and necessary business purchase to the IRS anymore.
This is why wallstreet and the financial world are in such trouble...we have d-bags like THIS giving presentations as business schools? Let me guess, someone else will hire him on a a professor of ethics.
@AreYouConfusedYet?HowAboutNow?:
Greed.
Keeping up with the other CEO's.
Impressing his country club associates.
@H3ion: I think he was showing the Warton goobs that you can spectacularly fail, be flogged by the media, and still exit with a platinum parachute to your $10million ranch...
@Mr.Duke: He actually used the office decoration to help get the decorator to do his home. I.E.- the business was overcharged so Thain could get a deal on the personal decoration. Happens all the time - just not caught and at that level...
Thain is a schmuck, but I will give him props for paying the firm back for all of that waste. Admittedly, it was under threat of a lynching...but, it's more than we got from Dick Fuld.
@nuton2wheels: The guy was CEO there 9 months, and forced out 3 months later. The existing mortgage-based crap had been building for 4-5 years before he got there.
He acknowledged during the talk that when he heard Lehman went down, he thought Merill Lynch was next. So he tried to arrange a sale, which did go through.
Honestly, when I first read the story, I wondered why he didn't go there first.