1. Why would a $500,000 salary cap prompt personnel to leave for other banks?
2. Was the stripping of Lewis’s chairmanship a significant move on the part of BoA shareholders?
3. How could John Thain justify spending $1.2 million on his office when Merrill Lynch was on the verge of bankruptcy?
4. What did Ken Lewis hope to gain by claiming that he was “pressured” into completing the Merrill Lynch deal?
5. Of all the decisions made by Ken Lewis in this case study, which one do you think did the most damage to his reputation? Why?
6. What should Lewis have done?