Thain Sees His Fixing Days Over After Third Turnaround Effort
- Former Merrill CEO to step down from top CIT job after 6 years
- Thain says that his next role may be building something
John Thain, outgoing chief executive officer of CIT Group.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Looking back, John Thain figures he could’ve fixed Merrill Lynch & Co. As the world knows, he didn’t. But after the brokerage collapsed into the arms of Bank of America Corp. and Thain was cast out, he became the unlikely Mr. Fix-It at CIT Group Inc.
Now he’s moving on again -- this time, on his terms. The 60-year-old is stepping down as CIT’s chief executive officer on March 31, 2016, after spending six years bringing the commercial lender back from its 2009 bankruptcy.