Early life and career
Lewis is a graduate of Georgia State University, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in finance from J. Mack Robinson College of Business. He is also a graduate of the executive program at Stanford University.
He joined NCNB as a credit analyst in 1969, and served as the head of both international and domestic operations when it became NationsBank, which would eventually become Bank of America.
Chief Executive Officer
Lewis became CEO, President and Chairman of Bank of America after the retirement of Hugh McColl in 2001.
Recognition
Lewis was named Banker of the Year in 2001, and was the same year honored as Top Chief Executive Officer, according to US Banker. In 2007, Lewis was listed among the 100 Most Influential People in the world by Time Magazine. He was again named Banker of the Year in 2008.
Salary
While CEO of Bank of America in 2007, Kenneth D. Lewis earned a total compensation of $20,404,009, which included a base salary of $1,500,000, a cash bonus of $4,250,000, stocks granted of $11,065,798, and options granted of $3,376,000.[1] In 2008, he earned a total compensation of $9,003,467, which included a base salary of $1,500,000, stocks granted of $4,255,012, and options granted of $2,973,330.[2]
Engineered takeover of Merrill Lynch
During the financial crisis of 2008, he engineered the takeover of Merrill Lynch for $50 billion.
On April 29, 2009, Bank of America shareholders narrowly voted to separate the positions of Chairman of the Board and CEO, effectively removing CEO Lewis from his position as Chairman of the Board of BofA, though he remained both the bank's president and its CEO.[3]
Retirement
On September 30, 2009, Lewis announced his retirement from Bank of America effective as of December 31, 2009. Lewis released the statement "The Merrill Lynch and Countrywide integrations are on track and returning value already. Our board of directors and our senior management include more talent, and more diversity of talent, than at any time in this company's history. We are in position to begin to repay the federal government's TARP investments. For these reasons, I decided now is the time to begin to transition to the next generation of leadership at Bank of America."[4] It was reported that this move was his own decision and that he did not receive pressure from the bank's Board of Directors.[5] Based on the company's most recent proxy statement, his full pension benefits total $53 million. Critics of the financial sector's salary scale have cited this sum as indicative of poor oversight by the board of directors and as an example of inflated executive compensation. As his plan dates back more than seven years, he is still entitled to full benefits. Bank of America has since revised their compensation plan for retiring executives.[6] In October, 2009, at the suggestion of Kenneth Feinberg, the U.S. Treasury's special master for compensation, Lewis decided to forgo salary or bonus in 2009. His 2008 salary was about $1.5 million. "He has taken home $148.8 million from cash and stock sales since taking over the bank in 2001, according to Equilar, a compensation research firm. He is also leaving with more than $135 million in retirement benefits, including the pension and $10 million in life insurance benefits, according to an analysis of corporate filings by James F. Reda & Associates, an independent consulting firm."[7]
Other roles
He is a member of the Financial Services Roundtable and the Financial Services Forum; the Fifth District’s representative on the Federal Advisory Committee; a member of the board and the executive committee and past chairman of United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.; a member of the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy; a director of the Homeownership Education and Counseling Institute; vice chairman of the Corporate Fund Board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and past chairman of the National Urban League