In Memory of E. Stanley O'neal

The news that E. Stanley O'Neal had been named president and CEO of Merrill Lynch in 2001 marked a sign of change for many who aspired to become investment bankers. It was an uncommon move: O'Neal is an African American, and Wall Street has long been a place where blacks have rarely reached the pinnacles of power. For many of us O'Neal's ascension to the investment banking elite was indeed a momentous feat in an industry whose racial barriers may come across as subtle, but are ever present. African Americans represent fewer than one in ten (6.6%) of the securities professionals in New York, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And in the industry's top management positions, there aren't enough blacks to fill a New York City taxicab (even if we could get one to pull over). Stanley O'Neal's promotion at Merrill was a step in a journey that's been defined by educational excellence, professional achievement, and his ability to focus on the opportunities before him rather than the obstacles he faced. When he was 13, his family left their modest farm in Wedowee (pop. 796), Alabama, in pursuit of a better life in Atlanta, some 75 miles away. It was the mid-1960s, a period of turbulence and change in America that had made it possible for a black man like the elder O'Neal to land a well-paying job on the assembly line at the General Motors plant in nearby Doraville, Georgia, instead of being denied because of his race. Although his family initially lived in public housing, O'Neal described his new life as "ten stories higher" than anything he had ever known. He graduated from Harvard's business school with distinction and later ascended through the executive ranks at GM (we won't belabor the obvious irony here) to the company's second-highest financial position in New York, assistant treasurer. There he headed the mergers and acquisitions area. "It was a very satisfying time for me," he told FORTUNE. "Everywhere I turned there was a new horizon, and I was focusing on what I could do to expand those horizons." O'Neal joined New York-based Merrill Lynch in 1986 as vice president of investment banking and has held a series of increasingly responsible positions since joining the company. He was named president and CEO in July 2001 and served as president of the company's U.S. Private Client Group from February 2000 until July 2001. He served as executive vice president and CFO of Merrill Lynch from 1998 until 2000 and also held the position of executive vice president and co-head of the Corporate and Institutional Client Group prior to that. Previously, O'Neal was in charge of Capital Markets and a managing director in investment banking, leading the financial services groupO'Neal has been widely credited with improving investment brokerage firm Merrill Lynch's profitability and transforming it into an international financial giant dealing in commodities, private equity, asset management and bonds. He reorganized the firm after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and made company-wide cuts during the 2002 stock market slide. The company's board gave him more leeway as he more than doubled the firm's profit level to an average that topped $5 billion annually from 2003 to 2006So on this day, when many will criticize his work, his politics and his manner, let us be ever conscious of the contributions that he has made in helping to pave a way for so many of us. The need for poster figures like O'Neal is even more profound in an industry like investment banking, which has little resonance among black youth. His example show us that we are indeed capable of all things!

P.S. - He's leaving with a $200M parachute. Got to love that!