The turmoil on Wall Street has been difficult on most people employed in the financial services industry, and the heads of IT departments are no different. There have been a number of changes at the top ranks in recent months, so much so that it's getting hard to keep score without a program.
So, to help keep track, here's a look at some of the reported trades. By the way, if you know of other CIO or top IT executive changes, let me know and I'll share it with CIOZone's members.
Bank of America: It's too early to tell how all the pieces will fit together once BofA digests Merrill Lynch, but there have already been strategic changes at the top. In May Marc Gordon was promoted to the role of chief technology officer (CTO), taking over the job from Barbara Desoer. Desoer was given the high profile job of running the bank's consumer mortgage business following the bailout of Countrywide Financial in January. Gordon brings depth to the position, having served as CIO of BofA's consumer banking division, and previously serving as a CIO at Best Buy and Timberland.
The big question mark at BofA, is what will happen to Merrill Lynch CIO Tom Sanzone. He assumed the job in February, after leaving a similar role at Credit Suisse. Sanzone is well respected in the financial services circle and was credited with leading a challenging integration project at Credit Suisse, which brought together the firm's investment banking, private banking and asset management divisions. What's at stake for Sanzone? According to SEC filings, Sanzone was to earn a base salary of $600,000 and a $9.4 million bonus in his first year - a cool $10 million in total. That's not all, for signing-on, he received a restricted stock grant valued then at $2 million.
Citi: The big news at Citi was the hiring this July of Marty Lippert from Toronto-based RBC. Lippert replaced Marvin Adams, who moved to Fidelity last December. In September, Citi chief executive Vikram Pandit decided to give Lippert an expanded role and named him Chief Operations and Technology Officer. Citi also went back to RBC and lured away Anita Sands for the position of managing director and head of transformation management. She worked closely with Lippert at RBC where she was head of innovation and process design.
Still to be determined is what will happen to the top tech folks at Wachovia, which Citi initially struck a government-engineered deal to buy for about $2 billion. At the time of writing this, Wells Fargo had entered the fray and launched a counter bid for Wachovia, but Citi is expected to increase its offer, so this one is yet to be settled. The chief executive in charge of technology at Wachovia is Gerald "Jerry" Enos, who was named Head of Operations, Technology, and eCommerce in March of 2006. He took over the role from Jean Davis, who retired.
Credit Suisse: Following Tom Sanzone's departure for Merrill Lynch in February, Credit Suisse announced it had promoted Karl Landert to the role of CIO. Landert, who joined Credit Suisse in 2001, was the head of IT Private Banking. Previously he held senior IT positions at Novartis Pharma and IBM.
JPMorgan Chase: Things appear to be fairly stable at JPMorgan Chase, which along with BofA, looks to emerge as another big winner in the current shakeup. Guy Chiarello is the CIO, a role he has held since November of 2007. Previously he was the CIO at Morgan Stanley for seven years.
Less certain is what will happen to the top IT folks at Washington Mutual, which JPMorgan Chase purchased - or rescued - for $2 billion. The CIO at WaMu is Deborah Horvath, who has held that position since 2004. Horvath has maintained a high profile as a CIO and previously served a 25-year term with GE, including as CIO for its GE Insurance division.
She could hope to fare as well as Peter Cherasia, the former head of global technology and operations at Bear Stearns, which JPMorgan acquired in March. Cherasia was one of only five top executives to stay on with the bank, and appointed head of technology at JP Morgan's investment bank as well as overseeing its worldwide real estate business.
Fidelity: In July, Fidelity Investments announced it had hired Daniel Petrozzo, former co-global CIO and head of infrastructure at Morgan Stanley, as its new CIO. Petrozzo replaced Steve Elterich who retired from day-to-day responsibilities but planned to continue acting as a consultant to the company.
Fannie Mae: The news was all bad at embattled mortgage company Fannie Mae. Along with other top executives, CIO Rahul Merchant announced his resignation in September. Merchant arrived at Fannie Mae in November of 2006 from Merrill Lynch where he served as head of global business technology.
Freddie Mac: There have been plenty of management changes over at Freddie Mac as well, but so far the top technology job has not been affected. That position is held by Michael Perlman, executive vice president operations and technology. Perlman took over the post from the retiring Joseph Smialowski in August of 2007.
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