Jason reflected the other day on Bank of America’s hunt for a new CEO, and how it was maybe not going so well, and now BAC is coming out and admitting the same thing. They, however, aren’t acknowledging that the reason might be that nobody particularly talented wants to work at a bank where your salary will receive heavy public scrutiny, where you might have to scrapple for profitability or where you have to make funny faces in all your AP photos. No, Bank of America has determined the reason they can’t find a CEO is because they are based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where, apparently, no one wants to live:
Bank of America Corp. broadened its search for a chief executive officer to include candidates who want to live in New York, acknowledging the bank’s biggest units are no longer based in its home of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bank of America’s investment banking and wealth-management businesses, which are run from New York, made up half of revenue through Sept. 30, up from 34 percent in the same period last year, before the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. The home loans and insurance unit, which account for 14 percent of revenue, is based in the former Calabasas, California headquarters of Countrywide Financial Corp., which the bank acquired in 2008. The credit-card services unit makes up 23 percent of revenue and is based in Wilmington. The consumer-banking business under Moynihan in Boston made up 11 percent of revenue. All told, that means about 98 percent of the bank’s revenue comes from units headed by executives based outside Charlotte.
From this, we can infer that Charles Scharf and Robert Kelly are either big fans of paying taxes, have an allergic reaction in the presence of Billy Graham, or are afraid they’ll never be able to hop up to the Big Apple on the BAC corporate jet to catch a Yankees game. Sorry, Charlotte. At least you’ll still have Muzak. And Bojangles.
Jason // Nov 3, 2009 at 9:01 am
Bojangles > Yankees
alyx // Nov 3, 2009 at 9:03 am
I love both, and would suggest that to honor the new Bank of America CEO being based out of NYC, that Yankee Stadium start offering sandwiches made of a Bojangles boneless breast crammed between two halves of a Dunkin Donut and deep-fried. (I mean… can’t we all just get along?)
Jason // Nov 3, 2009 at 9:48 am
What’s going to be really funny is when the new CEO discovers that his Manhattan office is basically him using free Wi-Fi at a Starbucks of his choosing.
alyx // Nov 3, 2009 at 11:44 am
NYPost headline that would inspire: “TROUBLE BREWING – TARPBANK CEO HAS OWN BARISTA”
Charlotte-the-friendly-city // Nov 7, 2009 at 11:02 am
For a CEO not to realize the potential that he has in Charlotte over NYC is sad. I have lived in both cities and Charlotte is ideal for making huge profits on cost of living when given a nice salary, plus a clean, fun and friendly city. You may not be able to hob knob with the big names, but they are only names. You may have to live with second broadway runs, Panthers, Bobcats and sub-par baseball, but it is only a social platform for fun that can be done in any city. You can make great strides in Charlotte by just doing your job correct and treating people fair. It is a place for those that enjoy the outdoors, want a clean environment and enjoy the finer things of life (not those paid for). CEOs come to BAC in Charlotte and experience a true family quality of life. One that will respect you and bring you home to their family table to dinner. Go to NYC and be respected through fear or brown nose habits, and be fed to the dogs later.