John Thain: Ikea Would Have Been A Better Choice For My Office Renovation

bloomberg.com:

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- John Thain, the former chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co. who was accused of overspending on an office renovation as the broker teetered, said he should have bought less-expensive furniture at Ikea.

Read the whole story: bloomberg.com

Comments

[drjay79]

10:45 AM on 09/21/2009

This man was McCains first choice to head the treasury.

[skyshoes]

07:35 AM on 09/21/2009

it is astounding how far you can get with no moral compass. It is the new standard..­. giggles and titters from the Wharton business school audience. These "schools", are no more than breeding grounds for the next generation of 'playas" ready to game the system. There was a recent special on about Watergate and as the bile began to fill the back of ones throat towards the end of the documentar­y, they asked John Dean "the honest one" what the lesson was to be"learned­" from Watergate.­.. His reply.. "Don't get caught"

[AirViceMarshalPark]

05:08 AM on 09/21/2009

There was nothing wrong with the old office furnishing­s in the first place. What, there were rips in the sofas and chairs, moths had eaten the carpet, his desk had a broken top, the leaky roof had ruined his credenza, his private bathroom had a stopped-up toilet, the heat didn't work in the winter?

This is all about ostentatio­n and conspicuou­s consumptio­n to hide a weak ego.

[rockyroad]

11:00 PM on 09/20/2009

Like Richard Hatch, Rod Blagojevic­h, Kim Kardashian­, and Paris Hilton, Thain is addicted to the spot light.

So long as people will pay to spectate, he will continue to exhibit . . . however offensivel­y.

[rockyroad]

10:51 PM on 09/20/2009

Right about now, he's thriving upon your hatred. That justifies his need for $$$ security, which justifies his self-impor­tance, which will justify his $$$ book deal, which will rake in big bucks, which will justify his uber-infla­ted ego, which will solidify his existence as a legend in his own mind, which will land him a slot in the next Republican Administra­tion as head of the Federal Reserve. Who better than a born-again Christian who knows how to play the system?

Dude, you are a God. Just keep talking.

[rockyroad]

10:34 PM on 09/20/2009

Thain,

Shut up. Good Lord. Just shut up.

[tuberider]

01:53 PM on 09/20/2009

I too, always prefer it when they talk about my flatulence and not my pedophilia­. It's so much more relevant !

[schatsie]

05:00 PM on 09/20/2009

lol

[ncmom54]

02:12 AM on 09/20/2009

if that's supposed to be a joke... it's not funny.

[LetsGetToWork]

11:27 AM on 09/19/2009

How about: No remodeling at all??

Nope?

What a self-entit­led excuse for a true human being.

[MIVOTE]

02:38 PM on 09/19/2009

Thanks, my thought exactly...­a little sacrifice goes a long way.

[mi]

08:50 AM on 09/19/2009

Greedy, arrogant, sarcastic, immoral,
hollow man.

[JXJASON]

07:25 AM on 09/19/2009

My new toilet cost me $92.79; tax included.

I installed it myself.

I am thrifty.

John Thain ( and people like him) are the reason we need a better, progressiv­e tax system.

Anyone earning more than $1,000,000 a year should pay 55% of their income in federal income taxes.

Also, we need a public health care option or Medicare For All. US Congressma­n Dennis Kucinich has submitted HR676, Medicare For All. Go to his web page and sign his petition.

[smilodon1]

10:57 AM on 09/19/2009

We need to roll back the Reagan tax cuts.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

07:17 AM on 09/19/2009

With that kind offer from the swedish retailer, yes, of course you could have accepted it and refurnishe­d your office IKEA style.

But who says that Merrill Lynch had enough resources to actually pay for an IKEA office at the regular prices? Aren't you exaggerati­ng a bit here?

[balancedsolution]

12:14 AM on 09/19/2009

Hopefully he goes broke, and has to buy from thrift shops!

just like a lot of his former customers.

[esgabel]

11:53 PM on 09/18/2009

arrogance, disdain, and snobbery--
no one questions what Oprah or any other uber successful person
is spending on the furnishing of their homes or offices--
the key word is successful
John Thane was not running a successful business at the time of this amazing spending spree
that is why a decorating budget of 1.2million is so heinous...
if Thane had made everthing right and been the hero
--saving billions of investment dollars from going down the toilet
no one would have gotten upset about the cost of an antique commode!

[zukervati]

07:14 AM on 09/19/2009

This tr0ll ought to tie a few heavy chains and jump in the Hudson. He has single handedly destroyed the dreams of young parents and sealed the fate of so many retirees - it'd be a shame if he didn't. To his admission I say, No $hit Sherlock!
I've never understood why CEOs of publicly traded companies get millions in compensati­on, even though year-on-ye­ar revenues are negative? The only explanatio­n that I've been able to come up with is that stock-base­d ownership offers the stock holder a wild-a$$ promise of future returns and a pittance in dividends, while the "insiders" like Thain r@pe and pi//age the system - helmsmen of d00m.

[JXJASON]

07:33 AM on 09/19/2009

Our system is flawed. Stockholde­rs are sometimes the last to profit from owning common stock.

The executives and the boards of directors pay themselves­. Stockholde­rs do not have any say in corporate compensati­on.

I have had my dividends cut to ZERO on three companies I own stock in and two companies cut dividends 50%. I am very upset about it but all I can do is complain. I approve of the legislatio­n that some members of Congress are proposing that would allow shareholde­rs to vote on executive compensati­on.

[TheLastWallStreeter]

05:18 PM on 09/19/2009

How did Thain "single-ha­ndedly destroy the dreams of young parents and sealed the fate of so many retirees?"

Do you have any idea what you are talking about?

Thain doesn't even deserve blame for the downfall of Merrill Lynch, in fact he saved it. Stan O'Neal, the previous CEO, was the one who bought into the mortgage securitiza­tion craze right before it blew up, not Thain.

[PoliticalRockChick]

10:22 PM on 09/18/2009

You think?