Too Big to Fail [299]
“Would it be weird for someone like to me to work on Wall Street?”: From a profile of Callan in NYU Law School’s alumni newsletter, “Erin Callan, ’90: Chief Financial Officer, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.,” April 2008. See http://www.law.nyu.edu/alumni/almo/pastalmos/20072008almos/erincallanapril/index.htm
Citadel Investment Group, she orchestrating landmark sale of $500 million worth of five-year bonds: Pierre Paulden, “Rainmakers—Alpha Female,” Institutional Investor, June 2007.
her personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman: Craig, “Lehman’s Straight Shooter,” Wall Street Journal.
negotiations to buy her dream home: According to New York City housing records, Callan signed both her deed and mortgage on April 16, 2008. Lysandra Ohrstrom, “15 CPW Alert! Lehman Lady Lands $6.5 M. Pad,” New York Observer, April 25, 2008.
15 Central Park West: James Quinn, “Sting Rubs Shoulders with Giants of Finance at $2bn Apartments,” Daily Telegraph (London), February 2, 2008; Christina S. N. Lewis, “Private Properties,” Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2008.
borrow $5 million to pay for the $6.48 million space: According to New York City housing records she took out a $5 million mortgage. Also see DealBook, “Lehman’s C.F.O. Checks into 15 C.P.W.” New York Times, April 29, 2008.
“I don’t want to make too much of words”: Matt Lauer interview with Treasury secretary Henry Paulson, Today, NBC, March 18, 2008.
quoting from the front page of the Wall Street Journal: Robin Sidel, Greg Ip, Michael M. Phillips, and Kate Kelly, “The Week That Shook Wall Street,” Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2008.
Goldman, Lehman first-quarter earnings: Jenny Anderson, “Swinging Between Optimism and Dread on Wall Street,” New York Times, March 19, 2008.
“Lehman kind of confounded the doomsayers”: “Lehman Lifts Mood, and So Does Goldman,” International Herald Tribune, March 19, 2008.
“all in all solid”: Susanne Craig and David Reilly, “Goldman, Lehman Earnings: Good Comes from the Bad,” Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2008.
“There’s no question the last few days”: Callan, from transcripts of the Lehman Conference Call: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) F1Q08 Earnings Call, March 18, 2008.
“You did a great job, Erin”: Ibid.
The stock would end the day up: Anderson, “Swinging Between Optimism and Dread,” New York Times; Rob Curran “Lehman Surges 46% As Brokers Rally Back,” Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2008.
she slapped him a high-five: Curran, “Lehman Surges 46%,” Wall Street Journal.
“I still don’t believe any of these numbers”: Alejandro Lazo and David Cho, “Financial Stocks Lead Wall Street Turnabout,” Washington Post, March 19, 2008.
CHAPTER TWO
“That makes me want to vomit!”: A version of this story was previously reported by Kelly, Street Fighters, 204.
raise the price to $10: Kate Kelly, “The Fall of Bear Stearns: Bear Stearns Neared Collapse Twice in Frenzied Last Days,” Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2008.
“I could see something nominal, like one or two dollars per share”: Kelly, Street Fighters, 205.
government’s offer to backstop $30 billion of Bear’s debt: A week later, to limit exposure, the Fed revised its offer to $29 billion. See Robin Sidel and Kate Kelly, “J.P. Morgan Quintuples Bid to Seal Bear Deal,” Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2008.
Bear’s shareholders and employees had practically revolted: Ibid.
“This isn’t a shotgun marriage”: Moldaver, as reported by Kelly, “The Fall of Bear Stearns,” Wall Street Journal.
“All these years of deregulation by the Republicans”: Maura Reynolds and Janet Hook, “Critics Say Bush Is Out of Touch on the Economy,” Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2008.
Paulson advising Bush on his Economic Club speech: Kelly, Street Fighters, 34.
“You may need a bailout, as bad as that sounds”: Ibid.
worked in the Nixon White House: In 1972, after two years as a Pentagon aide, Paulson assisted John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s domestic policy chief, who would later be jailed for his role in Watergate. See “The Quiet Ascendancy of Hank Paulson,” Institutional