{"id":345821,"date":"2021-09-29T00:38:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T21:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/former-merrill-lynch-ceo-dave-komansky-dead-at-82\/"},"modified":"2021-09-29T00:38:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T21:38:46","slug":"former-merrill-lynch-ceo-dave-komansky-dead-at-82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/former-merrill-lynch-ceo-dave-komansky-dead-at-82\/","title":{"rendered":"#Former Merrill Lynch CEO Dave Komansky dead at 82"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Former Merrill Lynch CEO Dave Komansky dead at 82<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Charles Gasparino\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=152 152w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=114 114w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=38 38w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png 706w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There was a time when it didn\u2019t matter what school you went to or whether you had a fancy MBA. If you were smart and hungry, you could have a career on Wall Street \u2014 and even run a big firm.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Komansky, the former longtime CEO of Merrill Lynch, who epitomized that largely forgotten part Wall Street, died Monday of natural causes. He was 82.<\/p>\n<p>What I\u2019ll always remember about Dave: his thick Bronx accent and how he could relate to anyone \u2014 something that can\u2019t be taught at business school. Clients loved him, people liked working for him. And Dave never finished college because he didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n<p>He knew how Wall Street worked and he could translate that knowledge to help people invest as one of the best brokers in the Merrill Lynch system. He carried that persona from the small office in Queens where he got his start as a broker trainee through to the Merrill executive suites, eventually becoming CEO in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Amid all this success, Komansky never forgot his roots, or the firm\u2019s founding principles. Under Komansky, Merrill would become a large, diversified investment bank. But it continued to be defined by its \u201cThundering Herd\u201d of financial advisers \u2014 a firm largely focused on dispensing market advice to small investors from brokerage offices in large cities and small towns across America. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Merrill would also remain defined by another one of its traditions, something that dates back to days of Charlie Merrill. It\u2019s the concept known as \u201cMother Merrill\u201d \u2014 a brokerage firm that actually cared about its people.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-2-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=695\" alt=\"Former Merrill Lynch CEO Dave Komansky\" class=\"wp-image-19624195\" width=\"538\" height=\"790\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-2-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1072 1076w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-2-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=804 807w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-2-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=536 538w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-2-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=268 269w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-2-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\"\/><figcaption>Former Merrill Lynch CEO Dave Komansky died this week at 82. He was known for loving the firm\u2019s \u201cThundering Herd.\u201d<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>While other CEOs seemed to luxuriate in mass layoffs (and the surging stock price that often followed) Merrill under Komansky considered downsizing a last resort. In 1998, when bank mergers were all the rage, Dave refused to sell Merrill to JP Morgan because he couldn\u2019t stomach seeing what he called the \u201celevator people\u201d getting fired as they smashed the two large firms together.<\/p>\n<p>These were the average men and women who Dave saw regularly in the elevator \u2014 and who Dave considered family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDave knew the first names of top executives, brokers and janitors,\u201d said his longtime friend Dick Grasso, the former head of the New York Stock Exchange. \u201cHe cared about his family first, but his family wasn\u2019t just blood relatives; it was also his family at Merrill Lynch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave worked at Merrill for 35 years. It never shocked me that just a few years after he left as CEO in 2003 following a nasty boardroom coup d\u2019\u00e9tat, the firm imploded. In hindsight, the reason was obvious: It started to value risk and profits over the people Komansky took the elevator with. \u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/merill-lynch-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Merrill Lynch office\" class=\"wp-image-19624191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/merill-lynch-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/merill-lynch-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/merill-lynch-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Merrill Lynch, which was headed by Dave Komansky until 2003, was bailed out by the government and then scooped up by Bank Of America in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">GC Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course, Dave had his blind spots (as we all do). Toward the end of his tenure as CEO, he trusted the wrong people. His attention to detail had waned (friends would say because of a chronic back problem). Profits at Merrill fell behind those at firms like Goldman Sachs.<\/p>\n<p>New management came in and focused on being more like Goldman as opposed to embracing Charlie Merrill\u2019s vision of \u201cbringing Wall Street to Main Street.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Merrill enjoyed a few years of souped-up trading profits as it embraced Goldmanesque trading risk until it became clear that risk also has its downsides. Like most of Wall Street, Merrill was on the verge of extinction in 2008 during the throes of the financial crisis. It was saved because of a government bailout and because Bank of America couldn\u2019t wait to get its hands on the brokerage crown jewel.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the risk-taking part of Merrill is gone, but its \u201cThundering Herd\u201d of brokers continues to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>Again, Dave had his blind spots, but no one could ever question his honesty, integrity, his respect for clients and love of Merrill, particularly those \u201celevator people\u201d who have made the Thundering Herd one of Wall Street\u2019s great firms.<\/p>\n<p>RIP.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"843\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-6.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Former Merrill Lynch CEO Dave Komansky\" class=\"wp-image-19624074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-6.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-6.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-6.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Dave Komansky expanded Merrill Lynch into a full-fledged investment bank, but still embraced its \u201cThundering Herd\u201d of brokers.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Steven Hirsch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/28\/former-merrill-lynch-ceo-dave-komansky-dead-at-82\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Former Merrill Lynch CEO Dave Komansky dead at 82&#8221; There was a time when it didn\u2019t matter what school you went to or whether you had a fancy MBA. If you were smart and hungry, you could have a career on Wall Street \u2014 and even run a big firm. Dave Komansky, the former longtime&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":345822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/david-komansky-3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[77742,74888,116686,11154,116733,70360],"class_list":["post-345821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bank-of-america","tag-banking","tag-9-28-21","tag-ceos","tag-merrill-lynch","tag-wall-street"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}