In 2008, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis was feted as Banker of the Year by an industry magazine. He shouldn't expect a repeat this year. During the financial meltdown of September 2008 in which Lehman Brothers perished, Lewis engineered his company's takeover of a flailing Merrill Lynch, a deal originally valued at $50 billion. He was a hero for saving the storied investment bank. But he might have just been another greedy executive looking for another trophy to place on in his corporate mantle or just plain dumb. Merrill's losses were astronomically higher than Lewis thought. The SEC alleged that Bank of America did not disclose to its shareholders that it would allow $3.6 billion in bonuses to be paid to Merrill execs, even though taxpayers had provided $45 billion to keep the combined firm afloat. Nice. Bank of America's stock tanked, the SEC said it would take Bank of America to court over the bonuses, and an embattled Lewis said he would retire at the end of the year. Then, in early December, Bank of America announced that it would repay the $45 billion in aid that it had collected from the government. A big chunk of the money would come from profits at Merrill. A redemption for Lewis? Maybe. Those profits largely came from trading the sort of risk-taking that helped get us into this mess. Plus, even as taxpayers cheered the payback, Bank of America shareholders didn't have as much to celebrate. By issuing nearly $19 billion in additional stock, the bank guaranteed that anyone who currently held shares suddenly owned less.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists