With the demise, goes a storied history;
The company was founded January 6, 1914, when Charles E. Merrill & Co. opened at 7 Wall Street in NYC. Months later, Merrill's friend, Edmund C. Lynch, joined him, In 1915 the name was officially changed to Merrill, Lynch & Co. In 1916, Winthrop H. Smith joined the firm.
Merrill, Lynch & Co. made several successful investments. In 1921, it purchased a company that later became RKO Pictures. In 1926, it bought a controlling interest in Safeway, transforming the small grocery store into the country's third largest grocery chain. Following this, the company increased its investment banking focus, transferring its retail brokerage services to E.A. Pierce.
In 1940, the firm merged with E. A. Pierce & Co. and Cassatt & Co. and was briefly known as Merrill Lynch, E. A. Pierce, and Cassatt. In 1941, Fenner & Beane joined the firm, and the name became Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane. The merger made the company the largest securities firm in the world, with offices in over 98 cities and membership on 28 exchanges. It then became the first investment firm to publish an annual statement of financial condiyion.
After Edmund Lynch's death in 1952, the company changed its name to Merrill Lynch & Co. and was officially incorporated.
On November 1, 2007, CEO Stan O'Neal left after being criticized for the way he handled the subprime mortgage crisis, which resulted in about US $ 2.24 billion in unexpected losses, and for discussing in public the possible merger with Wachovia banking corporation without being authorized by the board to do so. He left Merrill Lynch with about US $161 million worth of stock options and retirement benefits. John Thain, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, succeeded him as CEO on December 1, 2007.
On January 17, 2008, Merrill Lynch reported a $9.83 billion fourth quarter loss incorporating a $16.7 billion write down of assets associated with subprime mortgages. On April 17, 2008, Merrill Lynch reported a net loss of $1.97 billion for the first quarter of 2008. Merrill responded to its losses by raising capital through the sale of preferred shares, however experts suggest that such a strategy may pose a risk to the company's credit rating which could cause an increase to the company's borrowing costs.
And, as they say, the rest is history.
