John Thain at Bank of America

It's not surprising to me that John Thain has been pushed out at Bank of America. It's rather common in these mega-mergers for one of the two CEOs to depart fairly soon after a deal is finalized, despite the fact that the companies had said that both CEOs would stay on board when they announced the deal. It's very difficult for two CEOs to work together in such mega-mergers. Both have been used to being the person in charge, and for one to then become the subordinate to the other is very challenging. It's why I've come to expect such departures in the case of these mega-mergers, much like I've always come to doubt the announcement of so-called "mergers of equals" - there is no such thing! There's always a top dog in any merger. Likewise, there's almost always one CEO who will remain long term, while the other will depart, whether it's a so-called merger of equals or a straightforward acquisition as in this case.