Merrill Lynch ousted chairman and chief Executive Stan O'Neal today after recently reporting the biggest quarterly loss in the company's history.
The world's biggest brokerage said board member Alberto Cribiore will serve as interim non-executive chairman. Mr Cribiore will chair a committee to find a permanent successor to O'Neal.
Mr O'Neal's tenure came to an end after he misjudged the company's exposure to risky subprime loans, triggering an $8.4 billion write-down in the third quarter. Merrill posted a net loss of $2.3 billion for the quarter, much worse than Mr O'Neal had forecast.
Mr O'Neal (56) became CEO of Merrill Lynch in 2002 but lost the confidence of the board after the massive write-down.
Mr O'Neal, the first African-American to run a major Wall Street company, also damaged his cause when he floated a merger with US bank Wachovia without the board's knowledge, the New York Timesreported on Friday.