Ken Lewis is getting a little testy. Later this month, the Bank of America CEO will face a big room full of pissed off shareholders who will be demanding his head on a plate, so Lewis has been doing all he can to save his job by giving his side of things in newscasts.
The mounting tension is showing, though. He was even snippy with the President last week when he and other banking honchos met with Obama. According to American Banker magazine (also known as "Ambien In Print"), Lewis told the President, "I am not going to suck up to Larry and Tim like the rest of these guys," referring to National Economic Council head Larry Summers and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Obama, very much aware that the CEOs in front of him could very well be tomorrow's involuntary retirees or if ordinary Americans had their way, prison inmates reminded the high-dollar executives that, "My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."
Today, on CNBC, Lewis managed to act all pissy about his hosts' interview questions even though he was largely served softballs designed to let him make his job-saving spiels. For another look at Lewis and his reign of error at BofA, check out a story at forbes.com that got little to no local notice when it was published last month.