Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman
by Ken Auletta
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The inside account of a financial meltdown that reshaped Wall Street In 1983, Lew Glucksman, then co-CEO of the heralded investment bank Lehman Brothers, demanded the resignation of chairman Pete Peterson, with whom he had long argued over how to manage the company. Shockingly, Peterson, who had taken charge a decade earlier and led Lehman from near collapse to record profits, agreed to step down. In this meticulously researched volume, Ken Auletta details the turmoil, infighting, and power show more struggles that brought about Peterson's departure and the eventual sale of one of Wall Street's oldest and most prestigious firms. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s stock exchange, where hotshot young traders made and lost millions in a single afternoon, the story of Lehman's fall is a suspenseful battle of wills between bankers, traders, and executives motivated by greed, envy, and ego. Auletta, who conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and was granted access to private company records, has crafted a thorough, enduring, and engaging account of pivotal events that continued to influence this storied financial institution until its ultimate demise in 2008. show lessTags
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In-depth and dense reporting, but it left me wondering what happened afterwards, because 30 years later, Lehman fell a final time.
Inside story of greed, power and dirty politics within Lehman Brothers in the 1980's. Details dealings for Lehman to merge with Shearson/American Express. Focus of the book was on the CEO battle for Lehman between Pete Peterson and Lewis Glucksman. Upper management and the Board were concentrated on their bonuses and benefits.
Nothing special - provided glimpse of power struggle at Lehman.
An excellent account of part of a financial company history. All investors should take heed of these company histories. Of course the story continued to a bitter end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehman_Brothers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehman_Brothers
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16+ Works 1,768 Members
Bestselling writer, journalist, and media critic Ken Auletta was born on April 23, 1942. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and earned a B.S. from SUNY Oswego and an M.A. in political science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Before 1992, when he began to write the "Annals of Communications" column for show more The New Yorker, Auletta trained Peace Corps volunteers, served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce, participated in Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, was Executive Editor of the Manhattan Tribune, and worked as the chief political correspondent for the New York Post. He also was a columnist for the Village Voice and contributing editor of New York Magazine, began writing for The New Yorker in 1977, and wrote extensively for the New York Daily News. Auletta has appeared on numerous television programs and written several books, including Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way; Greed and Glory On Wall Street: The Fall of The House of Lehman; World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its Enemies; Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire; and Googled: The End of the World As We Know It. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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