Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [321]
“Management did not successfully put to rest”: Patrick M. Fitzgibbons, “Lehman in Sale Talks as Survival Questioned—Sources,” Reuters, September 11, 2008.
“The change in rating agency posture”: Alistair Barr, “Treasury, Fed Reportedly Helping as Deal Sought by This Weekend,” MarketWatch.com, September 11, 2008.
“He is as feisty as ever”: Louise Story, “Tough Fight for Chief at Lehman,” New York Times, September 11, 2008.
buy Chicago’s LaSalle Bank from ABN: “ABN AMRO Shareholders Vote in Favor of Sale, Breakup,” Dow Jones, April 26, 2007.
“It is with deep regret”: Letter obtained by author.
had just gotten off the phone with Geithner: The Wall Street Journal reported that Willumstad made his first call to Geithner on Thursday, but they didn’t actually speak on the phone until Friday morning. Author’s subsequent reporting places the phone conversation on Thurs day morning. See Monica Langley, Deborah Solomon, and Matthew Karnitschnig, “Bad Bets and Cash Crunch Pushed Ailing AIG to Brink,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2008.
272 Greg Farrell, Aline van Duyn, and Nicole Bullock, “S&P in Warning after AIG Shares Plunge,” Financial Times, September 12, 2008.
The cost to insure the debt of AIG: Lilla Zuill, “AIG Woes Knock Its Market Value Below Peers,” Reuters, September 11, 2008.
Hank Greenberg, who was being deposed that morning: In the midst of settling a Delaware shareholder suit for $115 million, Greenberg began his deposition with Andrew Cuomo for a civil fraud lawsuit, which would stretch over the next several days. Amir Efrati, “Greenberg Settles AIG Shareholder Case,” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2008.
“What the hell are you people waiting for?” James Bandler, “Hank’s Last Stand,” Fortune, October 7, 2008.
If the agency cut AIG’s credit rating: Mary Williams Walsh and Jonathan D. Glater, “Investors Turn Gaze to A.I.G.,” New York Times, September 12, 2008
Texaco trucks and Eastern Airlines jets: Stephen Labaton, “Bankruptcy Bar: Never So Solvent,” New York Times, April 1, 1990.
he billed clients nearly $1,000 an hour: Jonathan D. Glater, “The Man Who Is Unwinding Lehman Brothers,” New York Times, December 14, 2008.
He had grown up in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn: Ibid.; Labaton, “Bankruptcy Bar,” New York Times.
“Bankruptcy,” he once said, “is like dancing”: Ibid.
“With a beleaguered Lehman:” Jessica Papini, “Possible Govt Backstop for Lehman Buy Has Two Prior Models,” Dow Jones, September 11, 2008.
“Federal officials currently”: Efrati, “Greenberg Settles,” Wall Street Journal.
“But while the Treasury Department”: Walsh and Glater, “Investors Turn Gaze to A.I.G.,” New York Times.
“At least in the Bear case: “Lehman’s Fate,” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2008.
“Source: There will be no government money”: Steve Liesman to David Faber, Faber Report, CNBC, September 12, 2008.
“Lehman is going down”: Susanne Craig, Jeffrey McCracken, Aaron Lucchetti, and Kate Kelly, “The Weekend that Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2008.
“We are not Lehman”: Ibid.
“concerns about AIG’s ability to shed”: “AIG Shares Fall 20 Percent On Mortgage Woes,” Reuters, September 12, 2008.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
he had given her some $4,600 in donations: On February 21, 2007 Lloyd Blankfein made two contributions, of $2,300 each, to Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign. See http://www.opensecrets.org.
after testifying at a hearing for the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: “Summit to consider how to achieve a more secure, reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy future for the American people.” Friday, September 12, 2008.
BofA shares closed that day at $33.74: Bank of America rose $.68 or 2.1 percent, to $33.74 on Friday, September 12, 2008. “Finance companies shares