There’s plenty of Monday morning quarterbacking over Bank of America’s deal with Merrill Lynch. News articles overflow with vitriolic charges from executives barking, snarling, and lifting their legs in each other’s direction.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that some outside directors urged caution during a feverish September weekend in 2008:

On that frenzied weekend, as Lehman Brothers came crashing to the ground, Mr. Gifford urged Mr. Lewis to wait a day or two to see if he could pick up Merrill for a lower price to obtain better value for Bank of America shareholders, this person said. Mr. Lewis argued that he could lose a golden opportunity to make the investment bank the crown jewel of his empire if he held off, and he agreed to pay about $50 billion in stock for Merrill.

Merrill’s hefty price tag quickly became sore point for shareholders. When Mr. Lewis and other executives considered backing out of the deal, they turned to federal regulators about a second bailout for the merged company.

I believe Mr. Lewis blew it. Had he listened to other directors, he could have crafted a far better deal for his shareholders. They suffered—massive dividend cuts and crushed share price. As the CEO, Mr. Lewis could have stopped the train wreck.

That said, I’m glad Bank of America—with whatever prodding from Uncle Sam—saved Merrill Lynch from collapse. We all saw how the capital markets reacted to Lehman’s demise. Fortunately, Merrill’s potential collapse will remain the stuff of fiction.

Like me.

Grove O’Rourke

Top Producer

About the author

Norb Vonnegut wrote 178 articles on this blog.

Do you ever feel the financial news makes no sense? Do stories leave you with more questions than answers? I created Acrimoney to discuss Wall Street’s behavior behind the headlines. As a veteran of a wealth management business that exceeded $1 billion in assets, I offer insight into the people and the “doings” that affect your money. I’ll start the discussion. But I hope you’ll jump in and say what you think.

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