December 2, 2008 8:35:55 PM CST
(Newser) – Lehman Brothers is in the same bind as home sellers in a tight real estate market: they have a great asset for sale, but nobody has the money to buy, reports Bloomberg. The bank hopes to auction 55% of its asset-management fund, but experts say interested investors may not be able to finance a takeover that will cost billions.
Lehman CEO Richard Fuld yesterday put the unit on the market in an attempt to overhaul Lehman’s business, which has seen its stock tumble 90% since the start of the year. But private equity deals have dried up this year, falling 70% from 2007. “I don't think there is anyone who will lend them that kind of money in today's market,'' said one expert.
Source Bloomberg
Nov 20, 08 8:55 AM CST Investors have lost some $9 trillion since last year’s stock market peak, but at the center of the maelstrom, CEOs of some of the worst-performing companies are sitting pretty. Fifteen financial services and homebuilding CEOs have accumulated more than $100 million each in the past 5 years in cash compensation and stock sales, the Wall Street Journal reports. That includes the heads of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and other nearly bankrupt or deeply damaged companies. More »
Nov 13, 08 9:16 AM CST The art world bust continued last night at the Christie's contemporary auction in New York, where almost a third of the 75 works on the block went unsold. Not a single collector bid for the highlight of the sale, a self-portrait by Francis Bacon estimated to sell for around $40 million, Bloomberg reports. And in a sign of the times, a collection of 16 drawings put up by the CEO of bankrupt Lehman Brothers sold for just $13.5 million, below the low estimate. More »
Nov 6, 08 3:13 AM CST Lehman Brothers boss Richard Fuld, who led the giant 158-year-old Wall Street brokerage firm into bankruptcy, has been abruptly terminated. The 62-year-old Fuld, who earned $484 million from Lehman over the last eight years, won't receive a bonus or severance payments, but will keep his salaried post on the board of directors when he leaves as CEO the end of the year, reports the New York Daily News. More »
Oct 17, 08 2:18 PM CDT Lehman Brothers is getting the evil eye from three different US attorneys, who have convened grand juries to investigate the failed investment bank, Bloomberg reports. Prosecutors are particularly interested in a $6 billion stock offering made in June, and suspect Lehman was not straightforward with investors about the financial health of the company. More »
Oct 6, 08 2:04 PM CDT Lehman Brothers’ departing executives were negotiating millions in bonuses while the bank begged for taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy, a House committee finds after reviewing documents. At a hearing today on Capitol Hill—the first on the financial crisis—the investment firm was painted as one run by irresponsible leaders who poured money into risky projects even though internal documents predicted a liquidity crunch, the New York Times reports. More »
subprime crisis • Lehman Brothers • Richard Fuld • LBO • spin-off
