Bank of America Shareholders Send Message to Ken Lewis

Until now, the CEO and Chairman positions at Bank of America have been combined into one job, done by one person. Recently, that one person has been Ken Lewis. That changed with the most recent vote at the BofA shareholder meeting. The shareholders voted to:

1. Split the job of CEO and Chairman into two jobs.
2. Deprive Ken Lewis of the Chairman job, instead putting in Walter E. Massey.

Even though Ken Lewis will remain CEO, losing the chairmanship undercuts his authority. It also sends a clear message that shareholders are less than pleased with Lewis' performance over the past year. Especially concerning has been the scandal surrounding the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Did Lewis mislead shareholders? And did he do it in response to pressure from then-Treasury Secretary Paulson?

The news isn't hurting Bank of America stock at all; like the rest of the U.S. stock market, BofA is rising.