Wall Street's cool hand
A year ago, John Thain said he had a “modest plan” to restore the fortunes of the New York Stock Exchange, the troubled institution of which he had just been made chief executive.
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He floated a number of ideas including taking the NYSE public but gave little indication of how they might be achieved.
Last week, came the answer. The surprise proposal to turn the NYSE into a public company by acquiring Archipelago, an electronic exchange, was seen as a stunning coup that achieved most of his objectives at a stroke.
To his admirers, it was classic Thain. A former investment banker with an electrical engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr Thain had found a solution involving technology and a complex corporate deal. Robert Steel, former vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs, says it is a typically “elegant” solution from a man “capable of thinking in multiple dimensions”.
To his critics, it was also classic Goldman, the Wall Street powerhouse where Mr Thain worked for 25 years.
Detractors were annoyed at what they saw as high-handed lack of consultation with exchange members and users. And they were furious at Goldman's role as marriage broker to both the NYSE and Archipelago, in spite of the potential conflicts of interest.
But few of the critics denied it was a good deal and perhaps the NYSE's best chance to maintain its pre-eminence in an increasingly competitive global market.
When Mr Thain arrived, the NYSE was reeling from a trading scandal, criticism of its floor-based auction process by large investors and controversy over the pay package of Richard Grasso, former chief executive.
Mr Thain said he took the job giving up a huge salary as Goldman's president and the chance, albeit receding, of the top job because he thought he could “make a difference”. He could hardly have been more different from his emotional predecessor.
A cool technocrat with a Harvard MBA, Mr Thain, 49, is “the smartest guy I ever met”, according to a senior Goldman executive. John Mack, former chief executive of Credit Suisse, says he also has a quality rather rarer on Wall Street. “He's got his ego in check.” Few have seen him lose his temper, though Mr Thain tells the story of how he once destroyed a phone in irritation while working on the Goldman trading desk.
Unlike his predecessor, he is said to be a good delegator who is much more accessible and welcomes dissenting opinions. “He wants to know what you think, not have you repeat back what he thinks. He is quick to form an opinion but if you disagree he will listen and change his mind. That is rare for people at his level,” says a Goldman executive.
He is far from humourless. The former colleague recalls a prolonged discussion about the proposal to take Goldman public during which Mr Thain's position was constantly challenged by his staff. Finally, in mock exasperation, he joked: “OK, just for five minutes, the suck-up rule applies.”
Mr Thain had opposed Goldman's 1999 initial public offering. “He wasn't in favour, but once we decided to do it, it was going to be the best IPO ever done. And now he would absolutely tell you that it was the right thing to have done.” While not the showman Mr Grasso was, NYSE colleagues say Mr Thain has become more comfortable with his public role. He regularly rings the bell that opens trading, one of the stunts Mr Grasso used to boost the NYSE brand. Mr Thain is also more relaxed with staff, particularly in small groups, than his stiff image led them to expect. Not that he gives a lot away. Few have gleaned a great deal about his family life he jealously guards the time he spends with his wife and four children apart from their shared interest in bee-keeping.
All this has gone down well with many NYSE staff who had wearied of Mr Grasso's autocratic regime.
But he is less popular on the exchange's floor. In spite of his insistence that he sees value in the specialists, who match buyers and sellers, many are sceptical and believe the Archipelago deal will speed the demise of the floor.
This would hurt Goldman, which owns one of the largest specialist firms, rather complicating the arguments over conflicts of interest. Few critics believe Goldman or Mr Thain, who owns Goldman shares worth $300m, was influenced by their own interests, although William Higgins, an NYSE seatholder, says: “There are reasons to believe his loyalties lie elsewhere.”
But even some insiders on the deal say that, in retrospect, more could have been done to avoid the perception of conflicts.
Although the advisory arrangement with Goldman was agreed by John Reed, the NYSE's chairman, critics blame Mr Thain and Hank Paulson, Goldman's chairman, for not spotting the problem. “It was arrogance more than anything else. They didn't think there was a problem so they ignored the fact that everyone else would think there was a problem,” claims one senior Wall Street executive.
The potential conflicts were seized on by those eager to knock Goldman. Ken Langone, a former NYSE director, tried to whip up interest in a possible bid for the NYSE, with little success.
More seriously, some of Goldman's rivals, who are big customers of the NYSE, were angered at being left out of the deal. Stan O'Neal, Merrill Lynch chief executive, called Mr Thain to protest.
Few doubt the logic of the deal and observers believe most of the 1,366 seatholders who own the exchange will find the terms sufficiently attractive.
But to persuade others of the benefits of his “modest plan”,Mr Thain will have to rely on more than just logic. He has some selling to do, which friends admit is not his strongest suit.
华尔街的 “操盘手”
约翰?塞恩(John Thain)一年前表示，他有个“适度的计划”重整纽约证券交易所(NYSE)。当时，他刚被这家陷入麻烦的机构任命为首席执行官。
他提出了很多想法，包括将纽约证交所上市，但他几乎没有说明该如何实现这些想法。
最近，答案来了。塞恩先生出人意料地提议：让纽约证交所通过收购电子交易所Archipelago成为一家公开上市公司。这被视为一项惊人之举，能一下子实现他的多数目标。
对于他的崇拜者而言，这是经典的塞恩风格。塞恩先生以前是位投资银行家，拥有麻省理工学院(MIT)的电气工程学位。他找到的解决方案既有技术含量，又涉及复杂的公司交易。高盛(Goldman Sachs)前副董事长罗伯特?斯蒂尔(Robert Steel)说，这是一位“能进行多维思考”的人所想出的典型的“精妙”解决方案。
对于批评他的人来说，这也是经典的高盛风格。塞恩先生曾为这家华尔街巨擘工作了25年。
批评者非常生气，因为他们认为这个提议很专横，没有与交易所会员和用户磋商。此外，令他们感到恼火的还有，高盛充当纽约证交所和Archipelago双方的交易撮合人，而无视潜在的利益冲突。
但很少有批评者否认这是一桩好交易，或许还是纽约证交所在竞争日益激烈的全球市场中维持卓越地位的最佳机会。
塞恩先生上任时，纽约证交所正处于动荡时期，因为刚出了一宗交易丑闻，且大型投资者对场内竞价流程提出批评，另外，前首席执行官理查德?格拉索(Richard Grasso)的薪酬也引发了争议。
塞恩先生表示，他放弃了作为高盛总裁的巨额薪水，以及登上最高职位的机会(虽然当时机会在减小)，而接任纽约证交所首席执行官，原因是他觉得自己可以“发挥一些作用”。他与情绪化的前任相比，差别大得没法再大了。
现年49岁的塞恩先生拥有哈佛MBA学位，是一位沉着冷静的技术专家型经理人。一位高盛高管说：“他是我见过最聪明的家伙”。瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)前首席执行官麦晋桁(John Mack)说，他还有一种华尔街相当罕见的素质。“他能很好地把握自我。”很少有人看到过他发脾气，尽管塞恩先生说过一段故事：他在高盛当交易员时，曾有一次在盛怒之下摔坏了一部电话。
据说，与前任不同，塞恩先生知人善任，他平易近人得多，而且乐于听取不同意见。“他希望知道你是怎么想的，而不是让你把他的想法复述一遍。他很快就会形成一个意见，但如果你有异议，他会倾听并改变他的想法。在他这个级别很少有人这么做，”高盛的一位管理人员说。
他绝不缺少幽默感。这位前同事回忆说，在一场就高盛上市提案展开的长时间讨论中，塞恩先生的观点频频受到下属的质疑。最终，他佯装发怒，开玩笑地说：“好了，就五分钟，马屁法则生效。”
塞恩先生曾反对高盛1999年的首次公开上市。“他不赞成，但一旦我们决定这么做，它就将是有史以来最漂亮的首次公开上市。而现在，他绝对会告诉你，这件事做对了。”纽约证交所的同事们说，虽然塞恩先生不是格拉索先生那种善于表演之人，但他已经对自己的公众角色更加自在了。他定期按响开市铃，这是格拉索先生过去常用来提升纽约证交所品牌形象的绝招之一。和下属在一起时，尤其是在一小群人中间，塞恩先生也比较放松，而不是其严厉形象让人以为的那么不苟言笑。这并不是说他口无遮拦。几乎没有人知道多少关于他家庭生活的事，除了他们一家人都喜欢养蜂。他极为珍惜并确保与妻子和四个孩子共处的时间。
所有这些都受到许多纽约证交所员工的欢迎，他们厌烦了格拉索先生的独断专行。
但他在交易大厅内就不那么受欢迎了。尽管他坚持说，他认为撮合买卖双方的特设经纪商(specialists)是有价值的，但许多人表示怀疑，并认为同Archipelago合并的交易将加速交易大厅的灭亡。
这将损及高盛的利益(因为高盛拥有最大的特设经纪商之一)，令有关利益冲突的争论更为复杂。很少有批评家认为，高盛或塞恩先生(他持有价值3亿美元高盛股票)受自身利益的影响，不过，纽约证交所席位持有人威廉?希金斯(William Higgins)说：“有理由相信，他的忠诚体现在其它地方。”
即使这宗交易的一些内部人士也说，回头来看，本可以做更多事来避免给人以利益冲突的印象。
尽管聘请高盛担任顾问的协议，当初是由纽约证交所董事长约翰?里德(John Reed)议定的，但批评人士责备塞恩先生以及高盛董事长汉克?鲍尔森(Hank Paulson)未能发现这个问题。“这完全是骄傲自大。他们不认为会有问题，因此他们忽略了一个事实，即其它人会认为其中有问题，”华尔街的一位资深高管宣称。
潜在的利益冲突，被那些急于抨击高盛的人抓住不放。前纽约证交所董事肯?兰贡(Ken Langone)就曾试图鼓动其他方面竞购纽约证交所，但没有成功。
更严重的是，一些高盛的竞争对手也是纽约证交所的大客户，它们对自己被排除在交易之外感到生气。美林公司首席执行官斯坦?奥尼尔(Stan O’Neal)便曾致电塞恩先生表示抗议。
很少有人怀疑这宗交易的内在逻辑。观察人士相信，在该交易所的1366名席位持有者当中，大多数都将发现交易条款具备充分吸引力。
但要让其他人相信其“适度计划”的效益，塞恩先生光靠逻辑是不够的，他还必须做些推销工作，而他的朋友们承认，这并非他的强项。
