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The Devil's Casino_ Friendship, Betrayal - Vicky Ward [11]

By Root 364 0
of LCPI), the cards were quickly pulled off the board. There were limits

to the total value of their positions, and at midday those positions might be higher;

essentially, they were hiding their volatility, how much risk they were taking on a daily

basis.

When Arthur left, the cards went back up. "It was a game," says Newmark, "that was

ingrained in people. That's how Glucksman ran his business." It was a game that taught

these traders they "had to hide the facts." It was also a very profitable game. And Dick

Fuld was good at it.

One anecdote starring him quickly turned into legend.

It was the 1970s. Fuld was an associate trader and needed a trade signed by Allan Kaplan,

then a partner and banker in charge of the commitments committee, to move forward. He

went to see Kaplan, who was on the phone and motioned for Fuld to wait outside.

Fuld came in anyway, and said, "I need you to sign something." Kaplan again signaled

for Fuld to wait for him outside.

Fuld did not budge. "I know, but I need you to sign this."

Kaplan continued with his phone conversation and Fuld barked at him again. An irritated

Kaplan got off the phone. Who was this annoying young guy? Didn't he know you

couldn't just barge into an office on the banking floor, much less interrupt a phone call?

Fuld explained he had a trade that needed Kaplan's signature before he could make it.

Kaplan decided to teach the impudent trader a lesson in protocol.

He motioned toward his desk, strewn with paper. "You see all these piles on my desk?

When they are gone, I will sign your paper."

Fuld leaned across the desk and cleared it in one sweep. Papers flew across the office as

Fuld said, "Now may I have your signature?"

Kaplan was astonished, but he signed. The legend of Dick Fuld--the gorilla--had begun.

By 1984 Fuld had just a few close friends on the trading floor. One was Glucksman.

Another was James S. "Jim" Boshart III, a managing director, who had been hired in

1970 by Glucksman mostly because of his jump shot. Boshart was six feet five inches tall

and a former Wake Forest University basketball star, and Glucksman badly wanted the

LCPI team to win the Lehman basketball championship. (The team had lost its first four

games before Boshart joined them, but then ran off 12 straight wins to win the Wall

Street basketball league.) That Boshart, who would rise to be a partner and chief

administrative officer (CAO) by 1983, had a superb gift for crunching numbers was a

happy coincidence. When he'd joined, Glucksman had rushed across the trading floor to

greet him. "I know who you are. I've read your resume. You' re not qualified to work

here." He paused. "But I' ll give you a contract for three months so you can play on the

basketball team. It's up to you if you make it work on the trading front."

And Boshart had.

A joke went around Lehman after Boshart was hired that "if you could jump up and touch

the ceiling you'd be hired."

It was not surprising that Glucksman liked Chris Pettit, either. Pettit had joined the firm

in 1977. As a former military man, Glucksman liked recruiting from the military. Pettit,

with his commanding demeanor and distinguished military resume, was a natural fit.

Tucker, Gregory, and Lessing--all seen as "Pettit's men"--benefited from Pettit's rise even

though Pettit had joined the firm long after Gregory. The son of a lithograph printer,

Gregory had never imagined he would end up on Wall Street. He'd been recruited by a

family friend way back in 1968, and he'd spent his summers there as an intern in his

teens.

Steve Lessing was the youngest of the group. He joined in 1980.

They all watched in awe as Pettit, with zero financial background, shot up through LCPI's

ranks. Pettit was made head of LCPI sales in 1980 and partner in 1982. He was now

essentially the deputy to Fuld, with whom he got on very well.

Newmark recalled that the partnership of Fuld and Pettit worked well in the early 1980s,

particularly while Glucksman watched over both of them.

"It was the

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