She may want to consider handing out buttons and bumper stickers.
Sallie Krawcheck, the head of Bank of America’s massive wealth-management unit, yesterday kicked off what appeared to be a campaign to replace embattled outgoing BofA CEO Ken Lewis.
Considered one of a handful of executives on a short list to replace Lewis, Krawcheck seemed to go public with her ambitions to run the bank, giving an interview to CNBC that marked the first public appearance of a BofA executive since last week’s announcement that Lewis would leave at year-end.
While Krawcheck was coy about wanting the CEO job — “Honestly, I’m fully engaged in what I’m doing,” she said — she did use the appearance to remind the public that she runs one of the most important cogs in BofA’s sprawling empire.
“Merrill Lynch and US Trust aren’t just, as Ken [Lewis] has said, crown jewels of the organization, they are crown jewels of the industry,” she said.
“Our clients through the whole industry have been through a lot so our focus — all of us — has gotta be on restoring that trust and moving the business forward,” she said in the interview.
Krawcheck’s interview comes as BofA’s board has begun the search for an interim CEO should Lewis leave the bank early, and as the directors begin their hunt for Lewis’ successor.
And while she has demurred in declaring publicly that she wants the job, Krawcheck in private has indicated she’s keen to run the banking giant and restore a reputation tarnished by billions in losses at Merrill Lynch and allegations Lewis and others hid that red ink from investors.
By virtue of running BofA’s 15,000-person brokerage force, known on Wall Street as the “thundering herd,” Krawcheck is an automatic candidate to run the bank. However, some critics have questioned whether she has broad enough experience to run a bank as large as BofA.
Sources told The Post that Krawcheck has put in a lot of time trying to soothe the bank’s brokers, who for months have been complaining that the problems that have arisen from its shotgun marriage to Merrill Lynch earlier this year have been a distraction to their client-driven business. The unit has also lost two leaders in a relatively short period of time.
Other BofA execs considered to be on the short list to succeed Lewis are Chief Operating Officer Brian Moynihan, Chief Risk Officer Greg Curl and investment banking chief Thomas Montag.
In shoring up support for the CEO post, sources said Krawcheck has reached out to ex-Merrill bosses David Komansky and Dan Tully, and people familiar with the matter said her efforts to win over brokers have been successful.
Even some of Lewis’ harshest critics seem to be warming up to Krawcheck. Jon Finger, a principal at Finger Interest, which owns a significant stake in BofA and launched a campaign to oust Lewis, said that he would endorse the election of a leader from outside the firm and sees Krawcheck, who arrived at BofA two months ago, as such a candidate.