John Thain, the Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. chairman and chief executive officer under fire for suggesting that its board's compensation committee pay him a multimillion-dollar bonus, will be going home empty handed this year, The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Merrill's other top executives, including Gregory Fleming, its president, and Robert McCann, its wealth management chief, jointly asked the committee not to pay them for their work this year, the paper said. According to one person close to Merrill, Mr. Thain officially requested Monday that he not get a bonus, the paper said. The year has been a miserable year for Wall Street and for Merrill. Its stock has fallen dramatically, and the company was forced in September to sell itself to Bank of America Corp.

The Journal also reported that John Mack, Morgan Stanley's CEO, said he will not take a bonus for this year, the second consecutive year the Wall Street veteran has forgone the yearend payment.