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Former Lehman CEO is unhappy with book on company's collapse

Zac Bissonnette — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:20:00 EST

The New York Post reports that former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld "was so perturbed over the contents of a book on the demise of his beloved bank that he angrily phoned up a pair of traders he believed helped secretly contribute to the account of Lehman's stunning collapse last September."

The book in question is Lawrence McDonald's A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers, a former executives view of what went wrong at Lehman. Fuld called up former traders Michael Gelband and Alex Kirk and accused them of helping McDonald with background for the book.

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Former Lehman CEO is unhappy with book on company's collapse originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Time for an ex-Wall Streeter reality show

Zac Bissonnette — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: Television, Employees, Comic Relief

There have been numerous stories about the plight of the newly unemployed former Wall Street hotshot and it really is quite sad. Hard-working paper pushers have gone from seven-figure bonuses to the unemployment office. and in particularly dire cases, they've had to transfer kids to less elite private schools or perhaps even sell an Aspen ski lodge.

All of this could make for a fascinating CNBC reality show styled after hits like The Surreal Life and The Simple Life. Call it The Severed Life. The show would feature recently laid-off high level corporate executives, including former CEOs who left with massive severance packages, there to serve as punching bags: Richard Fuld, Angelo Mozilo, and Ken Lewis -- Oh wait, he somehow still has a job. Lesser-known cast members might include investment bankers and hedge fund managers.

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Wall Street's biggest losers of 2008

Zac Bissonnette — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Management, Financial Crisis

ClusterStock has put together a countdown of the biggest financial losers of 2008.

The results aren't too surprising: Executives at big banks with large stock holdings lost huge chunks of their fortunes. Former Citigroup (NYSE: C) head Sandy Weill saw his net worth plunge from $1.8 billion to $1.3 billion, and former Lehman head Richard Fuld lost about $1 billion.

But before you feel too bad, it's important to remember that these guys were playing with the house's money. As CEOs, they received huge stock and option grants as part of their compensation -- it's not like they ever paid cash for any of their shares, with the exception of the occasional token insider buying. No matter how you look at it, these guys were paid enormous amounts of money while destroying other people's wealth.

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Lehman lawyer says CEO not to blame

Zac Bissonnette — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Law

The lead attorney representing Lehman Bros. in the bankruptcy process is now making the case the former CEO Richard Fuld is not at all responsible for the collapse of the company he was leading.

In response to a motion by Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller, to have a trustee appointed to oversee Lehman's unwinding, Harvey Miller wrote that DiNapoli "blithely ignores that under the long term leadership of Mr. Fuld, Lehman had become one of the premier independent investment banking concerns in the world and had steadily provided significant returns to its investors, employees and shareholders."

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Bernard Madoff finally speaks his mind -- sort of

Jonathan Berr — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Law, Blogs, Politics, Recession

Leave it to some aspiring comedian to come up with the "official" blog of accused fraudster Bernard Madoff.

That's right someone writing under the pen name "Not the Devil" offers readers Madoff's "opinions" on the a variety of issues and Wall Street personalities. The results can be amusing, particularly if you did not lose money in Madoff's immense Ponzi scheme.

The blog takes aim at the media's fascination with Madoff. "To whoever it was that managed to get yourself a bi-line in today's Sunday business section: You need to get more credible people to comment; a former FBI agent portrays me as a 'psychopath," the fake Madoff argues.

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Lehman CEO looks to become judgement proof

Zac Bissonnette — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Law, Scandals

Former Lehman Bros. CEO Richard Fuld -- the man who drove the company into extinction -- is proving himself to be one of the most shameless persons on the planet.

Five years ago, he and his wife bought a $13 million mansion in Jupiter Island, Florida. He just sold it to his wife for $10. The reason seems obvious: with shareholder class-action lawsuits breathing down Fuld's neck, he's looking to preserve his assets from potential creditors or even a possible bankruptcy filing.

Lawyers tell The New York Times that the sale may not do much to protect Fuld's assets because the low price could qualify it as a case of fraudulent conveyance.

The Times reports on some additional Fuld shamelessness: "When Mrs. Fuld went shopping at Hermès over the holidays, she requested white bags - rather than the brand's signature orange ones - to try to disguise her purchases."

It's amazing that Fuld doesn't have more shame. He's more concerned about keeping his mansion than preserving whatever is left of his reputation as a human being. Is it even possible for him to enjoy his $13 million mansion at this point? Does he have any conscience at all? I wonder if the headlines trashing him even bother him. It's possible that he's deluded himself into thinking that he's done nothing wrong.

Lehman CEO looks to become judgement proof originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In 2008 they all fell down. Who are they?

Connie Madon — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Management, Insiders, Scandals, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Merrill Lynch (MER), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Financial Crisis

Here is a roster of some of the fallen ones.

Jimmy Cayne Former CEO Bear Stearns - latest compensation $32.1 million. He led Bear Stearns for 15 years. He resigned last January. Bear Stearns was acquired by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) for $10.00 a share. He and his wife purchased two luxury apartments at the Plaza.

Richard Fuld Former CEO Lehman Brothers - Latest compensation $34.4 million. Subpoenaed by federal investigators to determine if he misled investors at Lehman. Executives at Barclays Capital (NYSE: BCS) bought Lehman's US assets.

Kerry Killinger Former CEO WaMu - latest compensation $4.5 million. He became CEO in 1990 and built WaMU into one of the largest US mortgage writers. He offered sub prime mortgages which led to WaMU's rapid growth. He was ousted in September when WaMU was sold to JPMorgan.

Angelo Mozilo Former CEO Countrywide - latest compensation $132 million. He helped build Countrywide into one of the country's largest lenders. A host of class action lawsuits have been filed against Countrywide, which is under investigation by the SEC. Countrywide was sold to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) in January.

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In 2008 they all fell down. Who are they? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Madoff, Lehman, and suicidal stupidity

Bruce Watson — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:53:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Merrill Lynch (MER), Financial Crisis

At their base level, Ponzi schemes are incredibly simple: the schemer promises a consistent, impressive return on an investment, which he funds by soliciting new investors and using their money to pay off earlier investors. If the schemer can successfully project an air of reliability, he can often convince his investors to keep their principal in the fund, which means that he only has to pay dividends, improving his profit margin and extending the longevity of his scam.

Any intelligent person recognizes that a Ponzi scheme is, essentially, suicidal. Even in a consistently strong market, there will come a day when people will withdraw from the fund, investigators will shut it down, or the financial house of cards will fall apart. The best that a Ponzi schemer can hope for is that he will die before he is caught or will somehow be able to pull out all funds and make a run for it. In the case of Bernard Madoff, it's pretty clear that he was counting on the former. While this didn't work out, one could make a strong argument that Madoff's life currently isn't worth a plugged nickel: even if he somehow survives the next few months without suffering a massive coronary, chances are that a former investor or fellow inmate (or both!) will soon introduce him to the business end of a shank.

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Madoff, Lehman, and suicidal stupidity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best & Worst in Money 2008: Biggest fall from grace

Peter Cohan — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:40:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Las Vegas Sands (LVS)

This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst in Money 2008 feature.

In 2008, many big names took big face plants. Since this is a blog about money, I ranked them based on how much they lost and how far they fell. As you can see, the method is not exactly scientific. Here are the five biggest falls from grace:

Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers. The $639 billion bankruptcy is history's largest so far by a factor of at least six. And Fuld personally lost about $1 billion in his personal holdings of Lehman stock. And the repercussions of letting Lehman fail stretched from money market funds to Iceland. Ouch!
Jimmy Cayne, Bear Stearns CEO. Cayne lost plenty of his personal wealth when Bear Stearns stock stumbled. But at least shareholders were able to get out with something when JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) bought it.
Eliot Spitzer, New York governor. Spitzer destroyed his once promising political career by spending time with at least one woman other than his wife. He was trying to use his prosecution of Wall Street to boost his political career as Rudy Giuliani did. But his self-destructive urges got the better of him.
Sheldon Adelson, CEO, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS). Adelson, a colorful character who was a consulting client of mine, has lost $30 billion on paper thanks to his excessive debt load and a decline in gambling.
Jerry Yang, CEO, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Poor Jerry Yang suffered from delusions about his ability to revive his creation. He lost a chance to boost shareholder returns by selling to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) for $31 a share. With the stock at $11.51, he left big bucks on the table, and the board kicked him out of the big chair.

Let us know which one you would chose as the biggest fall of 2008.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Share the reasons for your Biggest Fall from Grace pick in the comments, or let us know about any contenders we overlooked. Also be sure to see the rest of the Best & Worst in Money 2008.

Best & Worst in Money 2008: Biggest fall from grace originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wall Street's meltdown: In search of a villain

Bruce Watson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EST

Filed under: Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

It's only been a few weeks since Henry Paulson begged Congress for $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, but Americans already seem to be coming to terms with the mountain of cash that they have had to lay out. Then again, one can only maintain self-righteous anger for so long and, with the onset of winter, finding ways to pay for heating and Christmas trumps the desire to set fire to the local bank. Still, as today's outrage becomes tomorrow's history, it is vital that America find a way to package this episode.

The first struggle has been to come up with a name for the Wall Street meltdown (I still like "Bernanke Panky"). However, as that plays out, it's time to begin finding a villain to blame. This is tremendously important stuff. For history to be written, complex events must be boiled down to a single cause, preferably an individual who can take responsibility for everything. For example, as every schoolchild knows, LBJ caused Vietnam, Hoover caused the Great Depression, and Nixon caused Watergate. Never mind that these men were the products of their ages or that history is a complex process. Children need villains, history demands explanations, and Americans crave resolution. Never mind that millions of homeowners signed up for mortgages that they couldn't pay, that millions of investors blindly purchased worthless securities, and that the groundwork for this disaster was laid by Democrats and Republicans demonstrating an impressive, albeit bipartisan, ignorance. History must be written and blame must be laid. Chances are, it will end up falling on one of the following people:

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Wall Street's meltdown: In search of a villain originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lehman screws workers out of severance payments

Jonathan Berr — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:25:00 EST

Filed under: Management, Employees, Scandals, Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Financial Crisis

Much as I find it hard to muster sympathy for thousands of overpaid investment bankers forced to walk to the unemployment office in their designer shoes, the news that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEMQ) won't be paying them severance made me feel a little sorry for them.

According to Bloomberg News, the New York-based firm recently notified employees that they will not receive a payment on October 3 or after. The company reneged on a promise to the fired workers to pay them severance until August 2009. Workers who want the rest of their compensation will have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court. It will take years for the former employees to get paid through Chapter 11 and even then they might only get a fraction of what they are owed.

Bloomberg reports that it is not clear how many former Lehman employees have been affected. You can bet that members of Congress and the Department of Justice will be interested to know if Chief Executive Richard Fuld will receive a golden parachute once Barclay's PLC (NYSE: BCS) completes its takeover of the once-storied New York investment bank.

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Why free markets can work

Peter Cohan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:13:00 EST

Filed under: Merrill Lynch (MER), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

The New York Times reports that underneath the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) was a desire by its CEO to get more money for his company than the Korean Development Bank was willing to pay. The reason Richard Fuld wanted more was that he was in a state of denial about reality. And that's a common problem facing successful people all over -- one I call confirmation bias -- in which a decision-maker ignores information that is not consistent with his or her world view.

And that is the beauty of a system of free markets in which there is complete transparency of costs and benefits and participants win and lose on the merits of their strategies. Until this weekend, the government had been operating under a scheme of private profits and nationalized losses. In other words, the taxpayer footed the bill for those multi-million compensation packages for the executives who generated the losses.

But with the government's decision to let the private sector live with the consequences of its bad decisions, we are getting closer to a free market system. Such a system would create powerful incentives for a vigilant attitude towards rapidly changing reality by managers -- such as John Thain -- who could see that Merrill Lynch & Co.. (NYSE: MER) would follow in Lehman's footsteps absent a deal. And if we had a system that solved the five flaws in our financial architecture, we could truly benefit from a system of free markets in the future.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Why free markets can work originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lehman gets bids for asset management unit, too late

Douglas McIntyre — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:10:00 EST

Filed under: Deals, Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

Several private equity firms have apparently made bids for the asset management division of Lehman (NYSE: LEH), including Neuberger Berman. The offers are said to be as high as $5 billion, and two of the firms who have made bids are Bain Capital LLC and Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc.

Getting the "healthy" part of Lehman may be the deal of the century. According to Bloomberg, "the private-equity firms may get the investment business at a discount. Lehman's asset-management unit earned $361 million on $2.3 billion of revenue this year through August, according to a Sanford Bernstein."

The news is an indication of just how badly Lehman CEO Richard Fuld has screwed up his chances to save his company. Lehman's market cap it only $2.5 billion. A sale of its money management arm for $5 billion would have brought in enough capital to stabilize the company and might have prevented the run on its stock that has taken it from $16 to under $4 in five trading days.

Based on rumors from the major financial papers and websites, Lehman may be broken up and sold off before Monday. Neuberger Berman could have been sold weeks ago and Lehman would have had a way out.

But, it wasn't.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Lehman gets bids for asset management unit, too late originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lehman CEO Fuld may do better than Stan O'Neal if he gets ousted

Jonathan Berr — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:45:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Merrill Lynch (MER), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) Chief Executive Richard Fuld, Wall Street's longest serving CEO, has no reason to fear being ousted if he can't turn around the company around. In fact, on some level, he may welcome it because he stands to reap more than $241 million.

Fuld, who has been Lehman's chief executive since 1993, and other members of Lehman's senior management team do not have employment contracts or change in control bonus arrangements, according to the company's most recent proxy statement. He is also declining a bonus for this year for obvious reasons. Nonetheless, his turnaround effort announced this morning, which includes slashing Lehman's dividend by 93%, selling a 55% stake in its investment management division and a spin-off the vast majority of its commercial real estate assets into a public company, got a mixed reception on Wall Street.

Shares of the New York-based company, which fell 45% yesterday, tumbled in pre-market trading. They later rebounded following Lehman's conference call which Fuld personally oversaw. But as my colleague Peter Cohan noted, the company's earnings, which were issued a week early, were even more awful than Wall Street expected. The company reported a preliminary net loss of $3.9 billion, or $5.92 a share. Net revenue was a negative $2.9 billion.

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Lehman jumps from the frying pan into the fire

Jonathan Berr — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:49:00 EST

Filed under: Deals, Rumors, Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Recession

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) Chief Executive Richard Fuld is running out of rabbits to pull out of his hat.

The troubled Wall Street bank, which reportedly is set to take a $4 billion write down in the third quarter, is desperate to raise capital. The Wall Street Journal says it's shopping around its investment management business, which includes Neuberger Berman. During the second quarter, the business reported net revenue of $800 million, down from $1 billion a year earlier. Its assets under management were $277 billion. Though these results were hardly spectacular, they stood in contrast to the Capital Markets business, which reported negative revenue of $2.4 billion.

Selling the asset management business would bring in between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to analysts cited by the Journal. Lehman's market capitalization now stands at about $10.4 billion thanks to the 77% decline in the stock price this year.

"Any change in the unit's ownership structure would be bittersweet for Lehman," according to the Journal. "The division has been a strong performer ever since Lehman bought it in 2003, holding up well despite the mortgage crisis. While a sale would give Lehman a cash infusion, the investment bank would lose a steady source of revenue."

Lehman acquired Neuberger for $2.6 billion in 2003, and some unhappy Neuberger executives are eager to dump their shares, the paper said.

Not all investors, however, believe that all hope is lost. Lehman's shares rose Friday on a report that billionaire George Soros boosted his stake in the company.

If the sale goes through, there is no way that Lehman will be able to remain independent.

Lehman jumps from the frying pan into the fire originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lehman Brothers' F2Q08 earnings transcript

Earnings Transcripts — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:08:00 EST

Filed under: Conventions and Conferences, Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Earnings Transcripts

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH)
F2Q08 Earnings Conference Call
June 16, 2008 10:00 AM ET

Management Summary

Welcome to the Lehman Brothers second quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Ed Grieb, Director of Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin.

Edward Grieb, Director of Investor Relations

Thank you for joining us today for our second quarter update. Before we begin let me point out that this presentation contains forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance; they only represent the firm's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. The firm's actual results and financial condition may differ, perhaps materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition in any such forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond our control. For more information concerning the risks and other factors that could affect the firm's future results and financial condition, see risk factors and management's discussion and analysis of financial conditions and results of operations in the firm's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and the most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC.

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Lehman Brothers' F2Q08 earnings transcript originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why did Lehman retain CEO Fuld while AIG fired Sullivan?

Jonathan Berr — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:11:00 EST

Filed under: From the Boards, Employees, Citigroup Inc. (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Economic Data, Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Bear Stearns Cos (BSC)

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) Chief Executive Richard Fuld continues to keep his job even though shares of the New York-bank have slumped more than 60% this year. Meanwhile, American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG), whose shares are down 42%, ousted CEO Martin Sullivan because of the continued poor performance of the world's largest insurer.

Why didn't Fuld follow Sullivan onto the unemployment line, albeit the cushy one for failed CEOs? It makes no sense.

Last week, Fuld shocked investors by pre-announcing that Lehman lost $2.8 billion, or $5.14 per share, results that were officially confirmed today. In the earnings release, Fuld proclaimed the results as "unacceptable" and vowed to "take the necessary steps to restore the credibility of our great franchise." Well, at least he says that's what he wants to do. He dismissed Lehman President Joseph Gregory and Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan last week. On the conference call, Fuld even took responsibility for the loss and investors cheered this act of contrition, sending shares of Lehman up.

The euphoria is not going to last. I am not sure why Wall Street believes that Fuld can extricate Lehman from the financial quagmire that occurred on his watch. They certainly did not give Merrill Lynch & Co.'s (NYSE: MER) Stan O'Neal and Bear Stearns & Co.'s (NYSE: BSC) James Cayne or Citigroup Inc.'s (NYSE: C) the benefit of the doubt.

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Why did Lehman retain CEO Fuld while AIG fired Sullivan? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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