Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [324]
“a group of global commercial and investment banks”: From Morgan Stanley press release, issued September 14, 2008.
He had received bids for it on Friday from two separate private equity firms, Bain Capital and TPG: Christine Williamson, “Walker Rises from Ashes of Lehman Brothers Firestorm,” Pensions & Investments, October 13, 2008.
Diamond’s cell phone rang: First reported by Aleksandrs Rozens, “Who Dares Wins; Barclays’ Diamond Leads Team to Snare One of Wall Street’s Most Storied Investment Banks,” Investment Dealers Digest, January 19, 2009.
Thomas Cruikshank, who had led the oil services company Halliburton: Cruikshank served as the chairman and CEO of Houston-based Halliburton from 1989 to 1995, after which Dick Cheney assumed his position. He had been on Lehman’s board of directors for twelve years when the company filed for bankruptcy. Hillary Durgin, “Halliburton—On the Offensive,” Houston Chronicle, October 5, 1997.
Known as “Dr. Doom”: Karen Pennar, “Dr. Doom and Dr. Gloom Are Still Prescribing Caution,” BusinessWeek, October 17, 1988.
“providing only tepid oversight”: From a speech Kaufman gave at a conference in Philadelphia in April 2008. “Credit Crisis a ‘Global Calamity’—Kaufman,” Reuters, April 18, 2008.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Azi Paybarah, “Bloomberg and Schwarzenegger (and Sheekey?) Together Again,” New York Observer, January 16, 2008.
“My goodness. I’ve been in the business”: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jenny Anderson, and Eric Dash, “A Buyer for Merrill,” New York Times, September 16, 2008.
“Words cannot express the sadness”: Carrick Mollenkamp, Susanne Craig, Jeffrey McCracken, and Jon Hilsenrath, “The Two Faces of Lehman’s Fall,” Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2008.
$5.8 billion in “incentive compensation”: A complaint later filed by the SEC against Bank of America revealed that the bank had “contractually authorized” Merrill to pay billions in discretionary bonuses—not to exceed $5.8 billion—to its employees. SEC press release, “SEC Charges Bank of America for Failing to Disclose Merrill Lynch Bonus Payments,” Washington, D.C., August 3, 2009. See http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-177.htm.
“BAC Update”: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/FedbofaDocs.pdf.
“fairness opinion”: Zachary R. Mider, “Lewis Turns to Tomato-Growing ‘Unknown Genius’ on Merrill Deal,” Bloomberg, September 24, 2008.
Flowers and Fox-Pitt would earn $20 million: From Bank of America’s SEC filing.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“CRISIS ON WALL STREET AS LEHMAN TOTTERS”: Carrick Mollenkamp, Susanne Craig, Serena Ng, and Aaron Lucchetti, “Crisis on Wall Street as Lehman Totters, Merrill Is Sold, AIG Seeks to Raise Cash,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2008.
Lehman formally filed for bankruptcy at 1:45 that morning: Legal documents show that Lehman filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday morning at 1:45 a.m. See www.lehman-docket.com; Peg Brickley, “Lehman Makes It Official in Overnight Chapter 11 Filing,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2008.
“Everybody’s prepared this time”: Annelena Lobb, “A Chaotic Sunday Opens Wall Street’s Week,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2008.
sent out a note to his clients: “Analysts’ View 3—Lehman Files for Bankruptcy, Merrill to be Sold,” Reuters, September 15, 2008.
a mogul unto himself: Landon Thomas Jr., “Banker, Loan Maestro Jimmy Lee Switched Suspenders for Sweaters,” New York Observer, December 24, 2001.
finance some of the biggest deals in history: Ibid. Beginning in the late seventies at Chemical Bank, Lee raised hundreds of billions for companies on the brink, such as IBM, General Motors, Seagram, Nextel, and AT&T, to name a few.; Robert Lenzner, “Jimmy’s List,” Forbes, April 17, 2000.
they were angry: Aleksandrs Rozens, “Death of an Era: Within the Span of Several Days, Wall Street Loses Two Titans,” Investment