Merrill, Citi Vie For New CEOs, but Mack Out of Running

Citicorp and Merrill Lynch, both seeking new chief executives after taking billions of dollars in write-downs, may compete for the same talent pool as they seek successors to their recently departed chief executives, CNBC has learned.

The candidates include NYSE Euronext CEO John Thain; BlackRock CEO Larry Fink; AIG Chairman; Robert Willumstad and Deutsche Bank Chairman Josef Ackermann.

Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack had been in the running, but he no longer has interest in leaving Morgan Stanley, where took over as CEO in 2005 and has been leading the bank's revival, according to a person who spoke with Mack on Wednesday.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the rumors.

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But Mack may not be totally out of the headlines. There has been talk that Morgan Stanley is likely to take some $3 billion in writedowns on its subprime-tainted mortgage loan portfolio.