Stanley O'Neal (born October 7, 1951) is an American business executive who served as the Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Lynch from 2002 until October 2007. He was elected chairman of the board in 2003. When he became president of Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2001, O'Neal became the first African American CEO of a major Wall Street brokerage.
Early Life
Stanley O'Neal was born on October 7, 1951, in Roanoke, Alabama, the eldest child of Earnest O'Neal, a farmer, and Ann Scales, a domestic worker. In his early childhood, he helped deliver newspapers and picked cotton and corn on his family’s farm. O'Neal was educated in a one-room school built by his grandfather, a former slave. He later became one of the first African Americans to attend the integrated West Fulton High School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Education
As a teenager, O'Neal worked briefly on General Motors' assembly line through a work-study program offered by the General Motors Institute (later known as Kettering University), where he earned a degree in industrial administration in 1974. GM later awarded O'Neal a scholarship to attend Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA in 1978. Afterward, he rejoined GM as a Treasury Analyst.
Early Career
While in college, O'Neal worked part-time on GM’s assembly line in Doraville, Georgia. After graduation, he joined GM's Treasury Office, holding several financial positions with increasing responsibility.
Merrill Lynch
In 1986, O'Neal joined Merrill Lynch as an investment banker. He was promoted to CFO in 1998. Over his 21-year career at Merrill, O'Neal held several high-ranking positions, including:
- President and Chief Operating Officer (July 2001 - December 2002)
- President of U.S. Private Client (February 2000 - July 2001)
- Chief Financial Officer (1998 - 2000)
- Executive Vice President and Co-head of Global Markets and Investment Banking (1997 - 1998)
O'Neal gained recognition for turning around Merrill's junk bond business in the early 1990s. As president of Merrill’s U.S. Private Client Group, he oversaw 800 branch offices serving nearly six million benefit plans with financial services. In 1999, O'Neal earned $7.5 million and held stock options worth $11.5 million, making him one of the highest-paid African Americans on Wall Street.
In 2002, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed O'Neal to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Board, tasked with overseeing New York City's redevelopment after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Board Memberships
O'Neal has served on the boards of Alcoa, General Motors, BlackRock, American Beacon Advisors, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Ronald McDonald House, the National Urban League, and Nasdaq. He was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Economic Club of New York.
Accolades
- Named one of Fortune's Top 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America (2002)
- Featured in Black Enterprise's Top 50 African Americans in Corporate America (2000)
Personal Life
O'Neal met his wife, economist Nancy Garvey, while at General Motors. The couple married in 1983, and in 1991, they welcomed twins—a son and a daughter.
Stanley O'Neal's profile is part of our Black Excellence Series.
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