If you’re wondering why ousted Merrill CEO Stan O’Neal was apparently obsessed with comparing his firm’s performance to that of Goldman Sachs, look no further than 941 Park Avenue.
    
That’s right, O’Neal and Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein live in the same building at Park and 81st. 

The New York Times Dealbook points this out in a blog post about the opposite direction the two men are headed. Goldman’s stock hit $245 on Wednesday, it’s highest level since the firm went public in 1999. Meanwhile, Merrill’s shares have been battered lately, hit by the whopping $8.4 billion write-down it took from bad subprime mortgage bets.
Stan O’Neal was swiftly shuttled out of his CEO spot. Blankfein, by contrast, is shining in his role at Goldman, the bank whose quarterly numbers impressed while the others mostly disappointed.

The Wall Street Journal pointed out that O’Neal used to wonder aloud to managers why their numbers didn’t stack up to Goldman Sachs. Of course, most of Wall Street compares themselves to Goldman. But in O’Neal’s case, that comparison was apparently a little closer to home.

Speaking of the home, New York Magazine calls the co-op a “plush-but-not-too-plush building at 81st Street that was also home to Tom Brokaw and Claude Arpels.”

Dealbreaker says: “Suddenly, Stan’s obsession with Goldman’s earnings is starting to make sense.” Indeed, maybe it is.

(Photo. Top, 941 Park Ave., http://www.thecityreview.com. Bottom, Stan O’Neal, Reuters file)