Merrill Names Head Broker as President

Merrill Lynch & Co. named its head broker, Stanley O’Neal, president and chief operating officer, putting him in line to become the first African American chief executive of a top brokerage.

Merrill Chief Executive David Komansky said O’Neal beat out three other candidates for the job and said the announcement clarifies the path of his succession when he retires in 2004.

“Certainly that will be up to the board at that time, but I certainly would expect that [O’Neal’s new role] would make it clear,” Komansky said.

O’Neal, 49, bested peers Jeffrey Peek, Thomas Davis and Winthrop Smith for the role of president and COO, Komansky said. Peek heads Merrill’s investment management unit and Davis is president of investment banking operations. Smith is head of Merrill’s international brokerage.

O’Neal, who will continue to oversee Merrill’s 15,000 U.S. brokers until a replacement is named, was the company’s chief financial officer from March 1998 until February 2000. He also has run its high-yield business and capital markets group.

Shares of Merrill, the nation’s No. 1 brokerage, fell $1.26 to close at $52.11 on the New York Stock Exchange.