With insiders estimating his resignation date at Tuesday, or the latest Wednesday, Stan O'Neal survived the weekend. However, Reuters is now reporting that the board has reached a broad consensus to remove O'Neal as chairman and CEO, and the Wall Street journal is reporting that O'Neal has decided to leave.
Meanwhile the list of top contenders for the slot is expanding, and now includes Merrill's retail head Robert McCann, Blackrock head Larry Fink, John Thain from the NYSE, and Gregory Fleming, Merrill's co-president.
