Too Big to Fail [298]
“He didn’t let his emotions get the best of his judgment”: Edward Robinson, “Lehman’s Fuld, a Survivor, Now Eyes Investment Banking Business,” Bloomberg Markets, July 2008.
Glucksman, who died in 2006: Diana B. Henriques, “Lewis Glucksman, Veteran of a Wall St. Battle, Dies at 80,” New York Times, July 8, 2006.
Lehman’s history: Charles Geisst, The Last Partnership: Inside the Great Wall Street Dynasties (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001), 49–51; Auletta, Greed and Glory On Wall Street, 27–30.
commercial paper trading operation: Keith Dovkants, “The Godfather, a Man They Call the Gorilla and How a Banking Legend Was Lost,” Evening Standard (London), September 16, 2008.
21 While this anecdote has been reported previously, the scene and dialogue between Kaplan and Fuld have been reported newly by this author. A brief mention of this event was previously reported by Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York.
“The Gorilla,” a nickname…stuffed gorilla: Susanne Craig, “Trading Up: To Crack Wall Street’s Top Tier, Lehman Gambles on Going Solo,” Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2004; Schack,” Restoring the House of Lehman,” Institutional Investor—Americas; Louise Story, “At Lehman, Chief Exudes Confidence:” New York Times, June 17, 2008.
“I was one of those people who didn’t want to disappoint Dick”: Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York.
the “Huntington Mafia”: Shnayerson, “Profiles in Panic,” Vanity Fair.
“Fucking bankers!”: Auletta, Greed and Glory, 118.
Glucksman, Peter Lusk’s office: David Patrick Columbia, “Highs and Lows,” New York Social Diary, January 27, 2009.
Glucksman ousting Peterson: Ken Auletta “Power, Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the Lehman Brothers,” New York Times Magazine, February 17, 1985.
“That’s kind of like talking about my first wife”: Robinson, “Lehman’s Fuld,” Bloomberg Markets, July 2008.
Shearson/American Express acquiring Lehman: Robert J. Cole, “Shearson to Pay $360 Million to Acquire Lehman Brothers,” New York Times, April 11, 1984.
“I loved this place”: Ken Auletta, “The Fall of Lehman Brothers: The Men, the Money, the Merger,” New York Times, February 24, 1985.
“It was like a ten-year prison sentence”: Peter Truell, “Market Place: Is Lehman Ready to Take the Plunge?” New York Times, June 3, 1997.
“Stay together, and you will continue to do great things”: Glucksman’s quote, as well as his pencil demonstration, from Robinson, “Lehman’s Fuld,” Bloomberg Markets.
Fuld pushed out Pettit: Peter Truell, “Pettit Resigns as President of Lehman Brothers,” New York Times, November 27, 1996; Peter Truell, “Christopher Pettit Dies at 51; Ex-President of Lehman Bros.” New York Times, February 19, 1997.
“You’re the best business fixer I have”: Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York.
Fuld began by slashing payroll: And brokers, too. Fuld noted, “Within a week or 10 days we fired 60% of the 550 brokers [who] weren’t representing the firm.” He shaved expenses from $1.25 billion to under $1 billion and fired nearly two thousand people. See “Take Notice, It’s Lehman,” US Banker, May 1, 2001.
“Inside” to Fuld’s “Mr. Outside”: Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York.
“I want my employees to act like owners”: Schack, “Restoring the House of Lehman,” Institutional Investor.
point system similar to the one that he used to reward his son: Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2005.
his vacation with James Tisch: “Ben, lead the way”: Schack, “Restoring the House of Leh man,” Institutional Investor.
“Every day is a battle”: Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York.
“I tried to train investment bankers”: Robinson, “Lehman’s Fuld,” Bloomberg Markets.
Gregory’s $34 million, Fuld’s $40 million: Yalman Onaran, “Lehman Brothers Paid CEO Fuld $40 Million for 2007,” Bloomberg News, March 5, 2008.
people inside Lehman referred to as a “Joeicide”: Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York.
“People need broad experience”: Ibid.
Callan history, early career: Susanne