When Lehman Brothers bank went under, the world gasped. One of the world's
biggest and most successful banks, its downfall was the event that sparked the
slide of the world economy toward a Great Depression II. This is the gripping
inside story of the dark characters who ruled Lehman, who refused to heed
warnings that the company was headed for an iceberg: the world-class, mid-level
people who valiantly fought to get Lehman off its disastrous course; the crash
that didn't have to happen. A news-breaking explanation that answers the
question everyone still asks: "why did it happen?" Larry McDonald, a former
vice-president at Lehman Brothers in charge of distressed debt trading and
convertible securities, was right at the center of the meltdown of the company
and gives an intimate look at the mad house that Lehman became. This book shows
beyond a doubt that Richard Fuld, the long-time CEO of Lehman, and his top
executives, were totally out to lunch, allowing Lehman's risk profile to reach
gargantuan proportions. While the traders, like Larry McDonald, clearly…
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