Daniel P Tully

Former Merrill Lynch & Co. chairman and chief executive officer who spoke out as both critic and cheerleader as the firm tried to weather the 2008 mortgage crisis, has died. He was 84. He died May 10 2016 in Darien, Connecticut, according to his daughter, Eileen Ceglarski, whom he was visiting. He was a resident of Hobe Sound, Florida. Tully retired as chairman in 1997 after 42 years at the firm, then watched as Merrill Lynch’s fortunes first continued their bull-market rise, then fell with dire consequences. Daniel Patrick Tully was born Jan. 2, 1932, and grew up in Jackson Heights, in the New York City borough of Queens. An early job was as copy boy for the New York Daily News. Tully graduated from St. John’s University in Queens in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After serving in the U.S. Army, he landed a job in 1955 as a junior accountant at the partnership then called Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane. His path up the corporate ladder included a seven-year stint in the firm’s Stamford, Connecticut, office. Tully was named a vice president in 1971, president of consumer marketing in 1984, president and chief operating officer in 1985. He was deputy to CEO William Schreyer and succeeded him in May 1992, adding the chairman’s role the following year. Tully was named non-executive chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers in 1996. In 2008, Tully joined with former colleagues to found Fieldpoint Private, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based financial firm. In addition to his daughter Eileen, survivors include his wife of 59 years, Grace Tully; children Daniel, Timothy and Elizabeth; 13 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.