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code-named “The Credit Basket”: Lindgren, “The Confidence Man,” New York.
“It is early, and we don’t give guidance on future periods”: Chris O’Meara, Lehman’s Chief Financial Officer, from the “Q3 2007 Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Earnings Conference Call,” September 18, 2007.
“This is crazy accounting”: Lindgren, “The Confidence Man,” New York.
“Lehman is not that materially different from Bear Stearns”: David Einhorn, “Private Profits and Socialized Risk,” Grant’s Spring Investment Conference, April 8, 2008.
“I can only feel that you set me up”: Einhorn’s exchange with Callan reported by Susanne Craig, “Finance Chief Is Demoted,” Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008.
“This is classic value”: “Stock Picks from Sohn Investment Conference,” Reuters, May 23, 2008.
shares of Allied plunged nearly 11 percent: Stephen Taub, “Speaking Candidly,” Alpha, May 2005.
the Securities and Exchange Commission started investigating him: Lindgren, “The Confidence Man, New York.
“One of the key issues I raised about Allied”: This and all succeeding speech quotes by David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital are from his “Accounting Ingenuity” speech at the Ira W. Sohn Investment Research Conference, May 21, 2008.
CHAPTER SIX
“Who talked?”: Susanne Craig, “Lehman Struggles to Shore Up Confidence,” Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2008.
“Lehman Is Seeking Overseas Capital”: Susanne Craig, “Lehman Is Seeking Overseas Capital—As Its Stock Declines, Wall Street Firm Expands Search for Cash, May Tap Korea,” Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2008.
it had tapped the Federal Reserve’s discount window: Lehman emphatically denied the rumors on June 3, 2008, referencing its previous quarter, which had ended with more than $40 billion of liquidity. Joe Bel Bruno, “Lehman Brothers Treasurer: Firm Did Not Tap Fed Discount Window to Avert Cash Problems,” Associated Press, June 3, 2008.
stock was plummeting anyway: Ibid. Lehman’s shares fell 15 percent in the afternoon of Tuesday, June 3, after Lehman liquidity rumors surfaced.
“Lehman’s straight shooter”: Susanne Craig, “Lehman’s Straight Shooter,” Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2008.
“Wall Street’s Most Powerful Woman”: Jesse Eisinger, “Diary of a Short-Seller,” Condé Nast Portfolio, April 2008.
Lehman’s deal with Woori: Hae Won Choi, “Woori Sets Pact with Lehman to Cut Bad Debt,” Asian Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2002; Donald Kirk, “No Pause for Woori,” Institutional Investor, July 1, 2002.
having judged his credentials as inadequate, had tried unsuccessfully to stop it: In June 2008, instead of settling in to his new office at KDB, Min spent several days addressing complaints and protests from KDB trade union workers enraged about his appointment. Song Jung-A, “Man Behind Doubts Rise over KDB’s Push for Global Status,” Financial Times, September 2, 2008.
he sang a song called “Leopard in Mt. Kilimanjaro”: Kim Yeon-hee, “KDB’s CEO: A Leopard on the Hunt for Lehman,” Reuters, September 5, 2008.
“Korea situation sounds promising”: Goldfarb’s e-mail, sent May 26, 2008, was made available from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation on the “Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy.” See “Lehman Brothers Email Regarding Punishing Short Seller,” http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID =2208.
set off for Korea: According to flight records obtained by the Wall Street Journal. See Craig, “Lehman Struggles to Shore Up Confidence,” Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2008.
The Shilla: http://www.shilla.net/en/seoul/.
Hana Financial was also considering an investment: Hana Financial Group was one of several top South Korean banks (Shinhan, Woori) reportedly contemplating a Lehman bid. The company, however, publicly “denied any interest in joining a consortium bidding for Lehman Shares.” Kim Yeon-hee, “KDB Confirms Lehman Talks; Korea Bank Shares Fall,” Reuters, September 1, 2008.
bringing on $3.9 billion in revenue: Lehman’s Investment Banking net revenues rose from $3.2 billion in 2006 to $3.9 billion in 2007, a 24 percent