MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC. EXHIBIT 99.1

Exhibit 99.1

Merrill Lynch Reports First Quarter 2005 Net Earnings of $1.2 Billion;
Diluted Earnings Per Share of $1.21;

Announces New $4 Billion Share Repurchase Program;

Raises Quarterly Dividend Per Common Share by 25%

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2005--Merrill Lynch (NYSE:
MER) today reported quarterly net earnings of $1.21 billion, down 3%
from the record earnings of $1.25 billion in the 2004 first quarter
but up 2% from the fourth quarter. Earnings per diluted share were
$1.21, unchanged from the year-ago quarter. First quarter net revenues
were $6.2 billion, up 3% from the first quarter of 2004 and up 6% from
the fourth quarter, and the highest the firm has generated since the
first quarter of 2001. The first quarter pre-tax profit margin was
26.8%, and the annualized return on average common equity was 15.5%.

5


"We are very pleased with our performance in the quarter," said
Stan O'Neal, chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch.
"We posted solid revenue growth over the strong performance in the
previous quarter, and, despite increasingly challenging market
conditions in March, we produced net earnings of more than $1 billion
again this quarter.

"We are executing well against our plans to deliver meaningful top
line growth by building out key asset classes in our institutional
business, including mortgages, principal investing, cash equities,
commodities, and investment banking. In our Wealth Management
businesses, we continue to experience strong net inflows into
annuitized private client products and strong investment performance
in our managed-money products. While we are mindful of the
increasingly challenging operating environment, we will continue to
invest to grow our business while maintaining strong operating
discipline."

Business Segment Review:


Global Markets and Investment Banking (GMI)
-------------------------------------------


GMI demonstrated the benefits of its more diversified sources of
revenue and strong client relationships during the quarter. After a
solid fourth quarter, GMI generated strong sequential increases in
first quarter net revenues despite more challenging market conditions
in March. In Global Markets, Debt Markets posted its highest-ever
quarterly net revenues, and Equity Markets generated its strongest net
revenues in the last 15 quarters.

-- GMI's first quarter net revenues were $3.3 billion, up 3% from
the year-ago quarter and 13% from the fourth quarter. This
represented the segment's highest net revenues since the 2000
second quarter. GMI's first quarter pre-tax earnings of $1.1
billion were essentially unchanged from the year-ago quarter,
and its pre-tax margin was 33.9%.

-- Global Markets net revenues increased 4% from the 2004 first
quarter and 27% from the fourth quarter. Compared with the
prior-year period, Debt Markets net revenues increased 2%,
driven higher by revenues from Global Principal Investments
and Secured Finance, credit products, and the contribution of
the newly acquired commodities trading business. These results
were partially offset by lower revenues in trading interest
rate products. Sequentially, Debt Markets net revenues
increased 32% as Global Principal Investments and Secured
Finance and the trading of interest rate and credit products
posted strong gains. Equity Markets net revenues increased 7%
from the prior year quarter and 20% from the fourth quarter,
despite increasingly challenging market conditions in March.
Year-on-year, the increase was driven by growth in prime
brokerage and equity derivatives revenues, partially offset by
lower cash equity trading revenues. Sequentially, the increase
in Equity Markets net revenues was driven primarily by strong
performance in equity derivatives, particularly in Europe and
Asia.

6



-- Investment Banking first quarter net revenues were essentially
unchanged compared with the year-ago quarter but declined 22%
sequentially, attributable to a particularly strong fourth
quarter for mergers and acquisitions and equity underwriting.
Merrill Lynch continued its fourth quarter momentum with first
quarter gains in market share in global equity and
equity-linked origination and announced mergers and
acquisitions, where it ranked #1 and #3, respectively.


Global Private Client (GPC)
---------------------------


GPC maintained its strong performance in the first quarter of
2005, despite a decline in transactional activity as the quarter
progressed. The depth and breadth of GPC's product platform gives its
Financial Advisors (FAs) more opportunities to meet their clients'
needs for investment, credit and banking products. This advantage was
reflected in strong net asset flows into annuitized products and
strong net new money during the quarter.

-- GPC's first quarter net revenues were $2.6 billion, up 3% from
the year-ago quarter, and pre-tax earnings of $510 million
were essentially unchanged year-on-year. Higher asset values
and annuitized net asset inflows drove fee-based revenues to a
quarterly record, while more challenging equity market
conditions resulted in lower transactional and origination
revenues during the quarter. GPC's pre-tax margin was 19.7%.
Compared with the 2004 first quarter, non-interest expenses
were higher primarily due to increased compensation costs
resulting from growth in FA headcount, as well as additional
costs related to the roll-out of the Wealth Management
Technology Platform.

-- Total assets in GPC accounts increased 4% from the year-ago
quarter, to $1.3 trillion. Net new annuitized assets for the
quarter reached $13.5 billion, the highest quarterly net
inflows since GPC began tracking this metric. Total net new
money was $10.9 billion, the highest net inflows in 13
quarters.

-- At the end of the first quarter, FA headcount was 14,100
worldwide.


Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM)
----------------------------------------


MLIM continued to leverage its strong investment performance to
grow the distribution of its products, while maintaining an efficient
operating platform. MLIM generated strong net inflows from its
European third-party retail distribution efforts, driven in part by
record sales of the Merrill Lynch International Fund product range.

-- MLIM's net revenues were $414 million, up 3% from the 2004
first quarter, driven principally by higher average asset
values, and first quarter pre-tax earnings were $127 million,
up 18% from the year-ago quarter. MLIM's pre-tax margin was
30.7%.

7


-- MLIM's relative investment performance continued to be strong,
with more than 70% of global assets under management ahead of
their respective benchmarks or medians for the one-, three-
and five-year periods ended February 2005.

-- Firmwide, assets under management totaled $479 billion at the
end of the first quarter of 2005, down 7% from the year-ago
quarter. Outflows were concentrated in institutional liquidity
products, resulting from increases in short-term interest
rates. These were partially offset by net inflows of
longer-term assets from increased distribution through
European third-party retail channels, which are higher margin.
Outflows in the U.K. institutional business continued to
decline.


Compensation Expenses
---------------------


Compensation and benefits expenses were $3.1 billion, or 49.6% of
net revenues for the first quarter of 2005, compared to 50.3% in the
year-ago quarter.


Non-compensation Expenses
-------------------------


Overall, non-compensation costs, including $85 million of expenses
related to consolidated investments, were $1.47 billion in the first
quarter of 2005, up $144 million from the year-ago quarter. Excluding
expenses related to consolidated investments, non-compensation
expenses were $1.38 billion, or up $101 million, running in line with
targeted levels.

Details of the significant changes in non-compensation costs,
excluding expenses related to consolidated investments, from the first
quarter of 2004 are as follows:

-- communications and technology costs were $396 million, up 16%.
This increase is primarily due to higher systems consulting
costs related to investments for growth, and higher expenses
related to the roll-out of Wealth Management Technology
Platform in GPC; and

-- brokerage, clearing, and exchange fees were $219 million, up
18%, due in part to higher transaction volumes.


Income Taxes
------------


Merrill Lynch's year-to-date effective tax rate was 27.4%, up from
the 2004 full-year rate of 24%. The 2004 effective tax rate reflected
the utilization of remaining Japanese tax loss carry-forwards. The
first quarter 2005 effective tax rate included a net benefit related
to settlements with various taxing authorities.


Staffing
--------


Merrill Lynch's full-time employees totaled 50,900 at the end of
the first quarter of 2005, a net increase of 300 during the quarter.


Share Repurchase Program
------------------------


As part of its active management of equity capital, Merrill Lynch
repurchased 17.3 million shares of its common stock during the first
quarter at an average price of $59.52 per share, completing the $2
billion program authorized in July 2004. The Board of Directors has
authorized the repurchase of an additional $4 billion of Merrill
Lynch's outstanding common shares.

8


Dividend on Common Shares
-------------------------


The Board of Directors has declared a 25% increase in the regular
quarterly dividend to 20 cents per common share, payable May 25, 2005,
to shareholders of record on May 6, 2005.

Ahmass Fakahany, vice chairman and chief administrative officer,
and Jeff Edwards, senior vice president and chief financial officer,
will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss the
company's 2005 first quarter results. The conference call can be
accessed via a live audio webcast available through the Investor
Relations website at www.ir.ml.com or by dialing (888) 810-0245 (U.S.
callers) or (706) 634-0180 (non-U.S. callers). On-demand replay of the
webcast will be available from approximately 1:00 p.m. ET today at the
same web address.

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management
and advisory companies with offices in 36 countries and total client
assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a
leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic
advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals
worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is
one of the world's largest managers of financial assets. Firmwide,
assets under management total $479 billion. For more information on
Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

9


Merrill Lynch may make forward-looking statements, including, for
example, statements about management expectations, strategic
objectives, growth opportunities, business prospects, investment
banking backlog, anticipated financial results, the impact of off
balance sheet arrangements, significant contractual obligations,
anticipated results of litigation and regulatory investigations and
proceedings, and other similar matters. These forward-looking
statements are not statements of historical facts and represent only
Merrill Lynch's beliefs regarding future performance, which are
inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors, many of which
are beyond Merrill Lynch's control, which affect the operations,
performance, business strategy and results and could cause its actual
results and experience to differ materially from the expectations and
objectives expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors
include, but are not limited to, financial market volatility; actions
and initiatives by current and potential competitors; general economic
conditions; the effect of current, pending and future legislation,
regulation, and regulatory actions; and the other risks detailed in
Merrill Lynch's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form
10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, which are available on the
Merrill Lynch Investor Relations website at www.ir.ml.com and at the
SEC's website, www.sec.gov.
Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which
they are made. Merrill Lynch does not undertake to update
forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or
events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are
made. Readers should, however, consult any further disclosures Merrill
Lynch may make in its reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.

10