Where are the women? That was the title of a four-sentence item in the NYTimes a few weeks back after the announcement that yet another Wall St. alpha female has been given the boot as she rose too close for comfort to that top corner office. Immediately after Warren Buffet –well known for his cadre of MALE top dogs at his outfit Berkshire Hathaway—propped up B of A with a $5 billion investment, top performer Sallie Krawcheck was shown the door despite her very strong performance at B of A.

Here is from the tiny item on Where are the Women:

“Women—always a rare breed on the upper echelons of Wall St—are looking like an endangered species in the executive suite of big banks.”

Here if from the NYTimes accounting of the two high level firings: [note that the dude fired had uneven results while Sallie K had steady positive results.]

Bank of America shook up its top management team on Tuesday, as the beleaguered financial firm contended with a flagging share price and mounting legal liabilities.
As part of the reshuffling, the bank announced the departure of two senior executives, Sallie L. Krawcheck, one of the top women on Wall Street, and Joe Price, a Bank of America veteran.
More;
Ms. Krawcheck was hired in August 2009 by Kenneth D. Lewis, then the company's controversial chairman and chief. Since her arrival, the wealth management group has posted steady results, even as the broader market has been battered by billions of dollars in losses. In the second quarter, the division earned $506 million, down slightly from the previous period, but up from $329 million in the second quarter of 2010.
In particular, the Merrill Lynch brokerage force has been a surprising bright spot for the troubled bank, increasing its client base since the 2009 takeover by Bank of America. In a report earlier this year Michael Mayo, an analyst at Credit Agricole Securities, said he expected the growth to continue.
Despite the group's steady performance, Ms. Krawcheck was not considered a member of Mr. Moynihan's inner circle, according a senior executive at the bank.

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Under Mr. Price's leadership, the division has had mixed results. The credit card portfolio has bounced back from the depths of the crisis, more than doubling its net income in the first half of 2011. But the bank's deposit business has gradually reported lower returns over the last year.

So ….one has to wonder if $5 billion gets you the “privilege” of kicking the woman out even if she is doing a bang up job. One has to wonder why Warren is so fond of his boys club status quo. You can't smell a woman for miles of a top corner office at Berkshire Hathaway.

One has to wonder …cause it is pretty hard to believe that Warren’s $5 billion doesn’t get him a say in who is in the line of ascension and it is really easy to remember how much Warren did NOT want a Hillary presidency.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E1D8173DF934A3575AC0A...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/world/28sallie.html?scp=9&sq=where%20a...