9 of Diamonds
Dick “Gorilla” Fuld
Richard Fuld was the last Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers. He was nicknamed "Gorilla" because of his aggressiveness. His best know quote is, " I am soft, I'm lovable, but what I really want to do is reach in, rip out their hearts and eat them before they die".
Fuld received almost $500 million in compensation from Lehman from 1993 to 2007. As the sub prime crisis spiraled , Lehman was over-leveraged, which is to say the company had borrowed thirty two dollars for every one dollar it had. This was higher than the leverage at Goldman Sachs and Merill Lynch.
Under Fuld's leadership, Lehman lost 73% of its value in 2008 as the sub prime crisis spun out of control. When Barclay's pulled out of a deal to purchase Lehman in August 2008, Lehman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
With $639 billion in assets and $613 billion in liabilities, the Lehman collapse was the biggest bankruptcy in U.S history. The company was party to over 900,000 derivatives contracts when it imploded. Fuld said when called before Congress , "Until the day they put me in the ground, I will wonder why we weren’t saved."
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Fuld received almost $500 million in compensation from Lehman from 1993 to 2007. As the sub prime crisis spiraled , Lehman was over-leveraged, which is to say the company had borrowed thirty two dollars for every one dollar it had. This was higher than the leverage at Goldman Sachs and Merill Lynch.
Under Fuld's leadership, Lehman lost 73% of its value in 2008 as the sub prime crisis spun out of control. When Barclay's pulled out of a deal to purchase Lehman in August 2008, Lehman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
With $639 billion in assets and $613 billion in liabilities, the Lehman collapse was the biggest bankruptcy in U.S history. The company was party to over 900,000 derivatives contracts when it imploded. Fuld said when called before Congress , "Until the day they put me in the ground, I will wonder why we weren’t saved."
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Art by: Tim Paul