Merrill Lynch Taps Tully as President
Merrill Lynch & Co., the nation’s largest investment firm, announced Monday that Daniel P. Tully was elected president and chief operating officer.
Tully, 53, succeeds William A. Schreyer, 57, who was elected chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch in April when Roger E. Birk retired. Like Schreyer, Tully has spent virtually his whole career at Merrill Lynch. Most recently he was its executive vice president and head of its consumer markets sector.
Tully said that he and Schreyer would continue pursuing a cost-control plan that was implemented last year in an attempt by Merrill Lynch to streamline its operations and secure steadier earnings growth. The company must “reinforce” the effort to “reduce the structural costs of our firm,” Tully said, while it increases the amount of revenue derived from fees charged for activities--such as managing client assets--that are not directly related to securities trading. In that way, Merrill Lynch hopes to prevent its earnings from being as heavily influenced by the amount of trading in the stock market, Tully said.
Schreyer, asked if Tully is the choice to eventually succeed him as chief executive, said: “The board of directors knows that, if I get hit by a torpedo, Dan Tully would certainly be the designated successor.”
Arco’s Cox to Retire in ’86
Ralph F. Cox, Atlantic Richfield Co. vice chairman and chief operating officer of the company’s resources division, plans to retire early next year, the Los Angeles-based company said.
Cox, 53, oversaw Arco’s oil and gas exploration efforts, including development of its bountiful oil reserves in Alaska.
Cox apparently lost the competition for president and chief executive last month when Arco named Lodwrick M. Cook, 57, to succeed William F. Kieschnick, 62, who plans to retire in October. Cook was Cox’s counterpart in the products division, which includes gasoline, chemicals and transportation.
Cox, who is well regarded in the industry for his technical knowledge of oil exploration and production, was named vice chairman June 23, when Cook was named Kieschnick’s successor.
Arco said in a statement that Cox chose to resign to “devote himself to personal affairs.” Cox had no comment, the company said. Like Kieschnick, Cox accepted the early retirement package that Arco offered its employees as part of a massive corporate restructuring.
“We wish him (Cox) every success in his future endeavors,” Robert O. Anderson, Arco’s chairman, said in a statement.
Arco announced several other high-level management changes. The company said Robert E. Wycoff, 54, will replace Cox. A month ago, Wycoff, Arco’s chief corporate officer, was named a vice chairman and Cook’s replacement, but Monday he was shifted from products to resources. Instead, Arco appointed Senior Vice President James S. Morrison to Cook’s old job. Morrison, 55, is president of Arco’s Petroleum Products Co., the unit that oversees gasoline production and marketing. Morrison was also named executive vice president.
George H. Babikian, 57, will replace Morrison as Arco Petroleum Products president. Babikian was senior vice president-marketing, dealing primarily with gasoline. Babikian, formerly a senior vice president of Arco Petroleum Products, was named a corporate senior vice president.
Morrison and Babikian are regarded as the force behind Arco’s successful gasoline refining and marketing effort, including Arco’s policy of no credit cards and an emphasis on low cost and self-service.
CALIFORNIA
E. Floyd Kvamme, a former executive of National Semiconductor and more recently Apple Computer, has been named chief executive of SEEQ Technology Inc., San Jose, following the abrupt departure of President M.R. MacPherson.
SEEQ, a semiconductor maker with annual sales of $43 million, announced the resignations of MacPherson and Chief Financial Officer Donald T. Aanestad late Friday. There was no explanation given, and a company spokesman Monday declined to comment on the departures.
Kvamme, a SEEQ director, will head the newly formed office of the president. Joining him will be Gerald A. Robinson, vice president-operations, and J. Daniel McCranie, vice president-sales and marketing. Aanestad was replaced by Patrick B. Brennan, former vice president and treasurer of National Semiconductor.
Kvamme, currently a general partner in the San Francisco venture-capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, was in meetings and unavailable for comment Monday.
