Winthrop H. Smith Jr.’s History of Merrill Lynch Picked up by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

John Wiley & Sons will take over publishing of Catching Lightning in a Bottle: How Merrill Lynch Revolutionized the Financial World. 

Warren, VT — John Wiley & Sons, Inc., a global book publisher and education company whose roster of authors includes more than 450 Nobel laureates, has announced that it will take over the publishing and  sales of Winthrop H. Smith Jr.’s book Catching Lightning in a Bottle: How Merrill Lynch Revolutionized the Financial World.

Smith originally released the book in December of 2013, just before the 100th anniversary of Merrill Lynch. The January 2014 anniversary of the company was a bittersweet affair: in 2008, Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch, a company that was at one point the world’s largest brokerage firm, but whose subsequent fall from greatness Smith attributes to the actions of former CEO Stanley O’Neill.

Smith’s book is both a history of the company and a personal tale, as Smith’s father, Win Smith, was an early partner of Merrill’s and instrumental in creating and perpetuating a culture of ethics that fed the company’s long success. Win Smith, Jr. followed his father’s legacy and enjoyed a 28-year career at the company. During that time, the younger Smith would become the youngest Executive Vice President in the history of Merrill Lynch. Smith resigned in 2002 in protest of the newly named CEO Stan O’Neil, who refused to embrace the principles of the company. Smith headed north and took over the daily operations of Sugarbush Resort in Vermont, a ski resort founded in 1958 whose high-society New York City clientele had once earned it the nickname “Mascara Mountain”.

Smith’s book has captured wide attention, both locally and nationally. Smith has been interviewed on numerous radio and television stations, including CNBC, ABC, and Vermont Public Radio. Smith has also been invited to speak at more than tk Merrill Lynch meetings around the country. Since December, more than 80,000 copies of the book have been sold.