Earnest Stanley O'Neal (born October 7, 1951) is an American business executive who was formerly chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch having served in numerous senior management positions at the company prior to this appointment.
O'Neal was criticized for his performance during his tenure as chief executive at Merrill Lynch, where he oversaw the deterioration of the firm's stability and capital position, which resulted in his ouster in September 2007, and the firm's eventual fire sale to Bank of America one year later.
Prior to his tenure as Chairman and CEO, Merrill Lynch had thrived as a stand-alone company since 1914.
O'Neal was a member of the board of directors of General Motors from 2001 through 2006.
Author: Screen capture of C-SPAN footage Source: C-SPAN footage of the United States House of Representatives. This is a cropped and edited version of File:Stanley O'Neal - Merrill EX-CEO on C-SPAN. License: PD-CSPAN