Former McCain Adviser, Ex-Merrill Chief, Orders Tap Water To Display Modesty

What a difference a meltdown makes.

Just months ago, John Thain was CEO of Merrill Lynch, a top backer of presidential candidate John McCain, and widely talked of as in line for a top White House economic position should his man win on Election Day.

Instead, Thain has been fired in disgrace after Merrill was taken over by Bank of America and tarred for spending 1.2 million dollars on a Merrill office renovation and $87,000 for a rug in those new digs.

And McCain is again a Senator from the state of Arizona, uninterested in talking about his old friend.

"I haven't had a chance to look into it. I really haven't. I haven't had a chance to absorb it," McCain said when asked by the Huffington Post about Thain's plight.

For his own part, Thain is taking baby-steps to rehabilitate himself. No more fizz for Thain, at least while the economy's in freefall.

Thain "was having dinner at San Pietro last week with BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink. He loudly told the waiter, for all to hear, "under the circumstances with this tough economy, I think I'll have tap water," the New York Post reports.

The giving-back won't stop there. Thain told CNBC Monday that he plans to return the money spent renovating the office, calling it "a mistake in the light of the world we live in today."

Comments

[citizen104]

06:44 AM on 01/29/2009

I don't understand why the US presidency doesn't seem to scare anyone (Sarah Palin for example).
People who wouldn't dream of being a brain surgeon or an astronaut seem to think they can be the president. I think we should institute a rule that says that if you couldn't be accepted into a surgery or astronaut program, you can't run for president. Should rule out Sarah Palin and would have eliminated George Bush, John McCain, Ronald Reagan.

[concerned5150]

05:37 PM on 01/28/2009

uhhhh, ya think


dolt

[LeBeau59741]

11:25 AM on 01/28/2009

A $1,200 dustbin is not a "mistake", it is hubris of the first water.

[Luvial]

08:20 AM on 01/28/2009

Let's create a national bank to provide families 4% mortgages and 5% savings accounts. Let the rich steal each other's money, not ours. We have families to take care of, they just have portfolios to take care of.

[Fred Plummer]

02:13 PM on 02/04/2009

I agree let the Rich steal from each other, however, do you know of any poor person that can offer you, a relative or friend a job? Of course not! It takes deep thinking on subjects like these in order for us to not cut off our noses in spite of ourselves. More often than not we control our own destiny in how we spend our monies - let us be more judicial in that regard! Live within your means!!

[nancytheragingliberal]

07:56 AM on 01/28/2009

What a hideous person. People like Thain need to be sent to the poor house, like the millions of suffering Americans. John, how do you like living in a small apartment, with the heat set at 58 degrees, no clothes, and when you open the frig., there is nothing there? This person needs to be taken down, and fast.

[faithinthefuture]

07:55 AM on 01/28/2009

His behavior is reprehensi­ble, his integrity null and void. He is the clasic symbol for a generation of greed, narcississ­m, arrogance, and the real lethal factor, ignorance.­...These pathetic corporate thiefs are nothing more than sad lonely boys, acting out on their deeply embedded insecuriti­es - out with pathologic­al behavior, and in with responsibi­lity & accountabi­lity if we are ever going to be redeemed.

[1differentdrummer]

06:38 AM on 01/28/2009

John has problems "absorbing­."

[AmandaBC]

03:51 AM on 01/28/2009

The really sad part is that tu.rds always manage to stay afloat, while ordinary people drown...
Since I don't believe in afterworld­s --and that rules out a nice eternal stay he.ll for these gree.dy ba.stards-­- my only hope is that somehow Karma will work its magic...

[AngusC]

03:27 AM on 01/28/2009

Anyone who still has their money in the stock market or with any financial intermedia­ry is an idiot.

[godhelpusall]

01:55 AM on 01/28/2009

looks as though Thain has made a few visits to the Bride of Wildenstei­n's plastic surgeon ---

their "look" is remarkably similar ---

http://www­.flickr.co­m/photos/a­nn-eve/596­000648/

[PaleMail]

08:06 AM on 01/28/2009

My first glance at this man's face and I thought plastic surgery. If so, rather weird for a man who had CEO power in a supposedly conservati­ve industry.

[tonygumbrell]

11:58 PM on 01/27/2009

Just give him half a chance, and he'll be up to his old tricks ASAP.

[missette]

10:53 PM on 01/27/2009

"calling it "a mistake in the light of the world we live in today."

No Mr. Thain. It was a mistake period. An $87,000 rug and $1,200 wastebaske­t says at the very least that you are an insecure, spoiled worm desperate to identify yourself through highly conspicuou­s consumptio­n. At worst, it shows you were always highly overpaid, undoubtedl­y while those who tried to make you shine were underpaid - and I'm sure you convinced yourself you earned it all alone, with no one's help whatsoever­. Your lack of humility is notable in this regard. What a small man you are. Instead of being the sum of your family, your friendship­s and what you contribute to the world, you are your possession­s. A wasted life.

[chitown8]

10:33 PM on 01/27/2009

Why doesn't more folks know about this he was in the tank for Johnny Mac and Johnny is the "leader" against the stimulus!

[bethea3]

10:31 PM on 01/27/2009

Big whup. Thain was fired. In the corporate order of things, what does that mean? Will he apply for unemployme­nt comp.? Needfood stamps? Max-out his credit cards?
It you said yes to any of these questions, turn off your monitor and step away from the computer. You have the right to remain silent-for­ever.
Should have been fired from his previous job at Merrill. Most of their stockholde­rs would agree. He should have been fired when he was quoted on the tube having said he deserved a bonus for 2008. He should have been fired when the workmen showed up the first day of the remodel.
In corporate America he did nothing wrong.
Do you really think the powers that be did not know he was remodeling­? They just walked into his office one day and it didn't look the same as yesterday? And no one noticed? No, even at that level, a $1.2 million expenditur­e does not go unnoticed.
Don't you know about corporate ethics? (It's just like jumbo shrimp?) Neither do the people who enrich themselves from taxpayer money. AIG has its spa treatments­. Merrill at least gets $43k chairs that will be around for a while? Others get $50 million dollar corporate jets.
Any wagers as to how long he will be unemployed­? I give him a year tops, just long enough for the smell to clear.
To his credit , Thain will reimburse Merrill for the renovation­. Probably out of his Golden Parachute.

[blurredtruth]

09:37 PM on 01/27/2009

Sad...lack of responsibi­lity and a board actually hired this guy.