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Wachovia board forces out CEO Ken Thompson
Summary from the United Kingdom, from articles in English
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Heads continued to roll at the top of America's biggest financial institutions yesterday as Wachovia ousted Ken Thompson and Washington Mutual stripped Kerry Killinger of its chairmanship. (article 1)
Mr Thompson follows the chief executives of Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Bear Stearns out of the door in the wake of multibillion-dollar writedowns on sub-prime mortgages and related securities. (article 1)
Mr Thompson, a 32-year veteran of Wachovia who has led the bank since April 2000, was ousted after a year in which growing credit-crunch damage cut the share price of America's fourth-largest bank by more than half. (article 1)
Lanty Smith, who replaced Mr Thompson as chairman last month, will act as interim chief executive until a permanent replacement is found. (article 1)
BEGIN: Comment Teaser Module Mr Thompson's departure came after shareholders stepped up the pressure on him after the group's first quarterly loss since 2001. (article 1)
A large portion of Wachovia's losses stem from Golden West Financial, a Californian bank that Mr Thompson bought for $24 billion in 2006 at the height of the mortgage boom. (article 1)
Mr Smith, commenting on Mr Thompson's departure, said: " A series of previously disclosed disappointments have negatively impacted the company. (article 1)
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Other summaries about this story:
Event tracking:
Story keywords
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THOMPSON, Wachovia, Bank, crane, Smith |
Source articles
- Executive cull at Wachovia and Washington Mutual (business.timesonline.co.uk, 06/03/2008, 381 words)
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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