Richard Fuld’s Day in Denial“Lehman was forced into bankruptcy not because it neglected to act responsibly,” and other gems from today’s hearing.
ByJessica Pressler
the gorilla
Richard Fuld, Victim“Lehman’s demise was caused by uncontrollable market forces and the incorrect perception and accompanying rumors that Lehman did not have sufficient capital to support its investments.”
ByJessica Pressler
the gorilla
Bro-Hugging Richard FuldA Lehman employee describes the experience of being held in the warm arms of the Gorilla.
Richard Fuld: ‘I Was Wrong’In the face of Representative Henry Waxman’s hard heart and perhaps fearing his secret chamber of whips and snares, Lehman CEO Richard Fuld got right down to the business of apologizing this morning.
Erin Callan Out at LehmanThe ex-CFO leaves the embattled bank and its vicious queen CEO for hot Swiss action.
company town
Eyebrows Are Raised Over Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley CEO John Mack grapples with plummeting profits and a rogue trader, a summer associate messes with the wrong guy at the company picnic, and Rachael Ray buys in the Hamptons, in our daily roundup of finance, law, media, and real-estate news.
Erin Callan, Joseph Gregory Out at LehmanWhoa. We knew Dick Fuld was not a fan of Lehman Brothers COO’s sleazy green suits or CFO Erin Callan’s nude lipstick, but we didn’t think he’d FIRE them.
The Summer Is Getting REALLY Sticky and Unpleasant for Dick FuldThe Lehmann Brothers CEO says he’s “disappointed” by losses as rumors of the firm’s demise intensify, ‘Bazaar’ editor Glenda Bailey becomes a dame, and Britney’s NYC apartment goes on the market in today’s roundup of news from the realms of finance, media, real estate, and law.
in other news
Lehman to World: ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’
After this weekend’s deal to sell collapsing investment bank Bear Stearns to JPMorgan, market watchers were frantically scanning the horizon to see which financial firm might be next. The name on everybody’s lips turned out to be Lehman Brothers. The bank, whose profile is similar to that of Bear Stearns, was a major player in the subprime-mortgage market as of last summer, and its shares have tumbled from $82 then to $31.75 last night. It’s also the smallest of the most important Wall Street power firms. But Lehman CEO Richard Fuld aggressively made it clear yesterday that if there is in fact a domino effect among the firms, it won’t be his company that will be tumbled first. Why?
• Because Lehman learned a ton from a similar crisis in 1998, after a panic over Russian debt, and returned stronger.
• As a result, they have a much higher level of liquidity this time around. Like, $35 billion in cash and liquid assets, on top of $160 billion in “unencumbered” assets, so it can borrow more.