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Merrill Lynch CEO may step down today

He would become the highest-ranking casualty of the global credit crisis.

NEW YORK - Stan O'Neal, the beleaguered chief executive of Merrill Lynch & Co., was reportedly close to resigning Sunday amid broad criticism for leading the world's largest brokerage to its biggest quarterly loss since it was founded 93 years ago.

Merrill Lynch announced a $2.24-billion loss Wednesday as big bets on mortgage-backed securities were rendered almost worthless because of a global credit squeeze. O'Neal's fate was also plunged into doubt after he initiated talks without authorization about a possible merger with retail bank Wachovia Corp., according to the New York Times.

The board of Merrill Lynch reached a broad consensus Friday for O'Neal's dismissal, according to several media reports. He would become the highest-ranking casualty of the global credit crisis that swept through Wall Street's biggest investment banks during the third quarter.

An announcement of his departure could come as soon as this morning, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

A Merrill Lynch spokesman declined to comment Sunday.

O'Neal, 56, who rose to power five years ago, was known for shaking up top management and putting a greater emphasis on riskier bets rather than the safety of just selling stocks. That strategy, which handed Merrill Lynch record results during the market's peak, came with a heavy cost during the tumultuous third quarter. The company said Wednesday that it didn't know what impact it would have in the current earnings period.

[Last modified October 29, 2007, 01:05:08]