Once the number #4 U.S. investment bank, Lehman was once on top of the world, as a Wall Street titan with an impeccable reputation that had weathered every financial storm and every Great War of the last 150-plus years… until 2008.
That’s the year top Lehman brass worked every last angle to convince shareholders everything was okay… even as they spent millions on limos, ballgames, golfing, fitness, and luxury hotels.
The bank even tried to convince investors that it didn’t need new capital to survive… and that its real estate portfolio was properly valued on September 10, 2008.
But that was a lie, as they’d soon file for bankruptcy protection.
But we’ll let Lehman executives explain themselves before all the prosecutors… the ones already lined up at the door, sharpening their knives and licking their chops.
And we’ll let Lehman explain to the many creditors that they won’t be getting paid, including the Red Sox, taxpayers, the Ritz Carlton, a fire extinguisher repairman out of Brooklyn, an employee day care center in Times Square… even Walt Disney.
Records also show that Lehman owed $625,000 to the New York Giants, Boston Red Sox, and the Chicago White Sox.
Even a 15-employee site design firm was screwed. A check, dated September 5, 2008, and signed by Fuld (who earned millions for running the company into the ground) for $5,750 was returned as a bounced check “due to insufficient funds.”
There are even claims for $353,653 from Equinox Fitness Club… A day care tab of $113,793 from a day care center…. A ski resort waiting for $94,473… A $239,671 bill from Ritz Carlton… A $597,859 bill from a spa… and a Fairmont Hotel bill for $620,250…
Hope Lehman execs enjoy whatever the judicial system hands them…
