| O'Neal: ready to share champagne |
An evening with O'Neal is one of the treats up for grabs in a charity auction being run by Merrill. At press time, bidding stood at $1,000 - from a corporate bond staffer in New York.
Dinner with James Gorman, president of the private-client business has so far proved less of a draw, raising $260, while John McKinley, chief technology officer, has attracted just $190.
Proceeds go to United Way, the campaign Merrill began after September 11. It has raised $4.5 million to date under the banner "Be bullish...on giving".
But if putting a price on your boss is a delicate proposition, we wouldn't want to be in the shoes of whoever bid $1,320 for a case of burgundy instead.