[12] To avoid a confrontation with Kenneth Feinberg, the U.S. Treasury's special master for compensation, Lewis decided to forgo a salary and bonus in 2009.

Lewis has taken home $148.8 million from cash and stock sales since taking over the bank in 2001, according to Equilar, a compensation research firm.

The acquisition has since been characterized as "the worst deal in the history of American finance" with a total cost that may exceed $40 billion due to Countrywide's real estate losses, legal expenses and settlements with state and federal agencies.

The FDIC chairperson at the time, Sheila Bair, stated that the acquisition was overpriced, as Merrill Lynch along with Countrywide, which Bank of America also acquired, were "two of the sickest financial institutions in the country.

[20] In its January 16, 2009 earnings release, Bank of America revealed massive losses at Merrill Lynch in the fourth quarter, which required an infusion of $20 billion from the federal government.

On September 28, 2012, Bank of America announced that it agreed to pay $2.4 billion to settle an investor lawsuit over its Merrill Lynch acquisition.

Critics of the financial sector's salary scale have cited this sum as indicative of poor oversight by the board of directors and as an example of inflated executive compensation.

[28] In 2011, Lewis's successor, Brian Moynihan, stated Bank of America will sell parts of the business to fill the crater that the Countrywide Financial acquisition left on its balance sheet.

[32] In March 2014, Lewis was banned for three years from serving as a public company official and ordered to pay $10 million for failing to disclose Merrill Lynch losses of $9 billion to investors prior to the takeover.

Buffett regards Lewis as having played a crucial but unintended role in limiting the severity of the Great Recession, referring to him as the "ironic hero" of the 2008 economic meltdown.