Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSyst

42 same status in the cabinet as Defense and State: Deborah Solomon, “Bush Taps Paulson as Treasury Chief—Goldman CEO Is Promised More Power Than Snow,” Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2006.

42 “As a prudential matter, I will not participate”: From the six-page “Ethics Agreement of Henry M Paulson Jr.,” dated June 19, 2008.

42 some 3.23 million shares: “Paulson to Sell His Goldman Shares,” Bloomberg News, June 22, 2006.

44 “Given how [Hank] moved from a low-ranking position”: Valerie Shanley, “Profile: Hank Paulson,” Sunday Tribune (Dublin), September 14, 2008.

45 Goldman Sachs was in turmoil: “Goldman Seeking Capital Investment; Firm Beset by Falling Profits, Departing Partners,” Bloomberg, September 16, 1994.

46 “Hank, nothing could please me more”: Ellis, The Partnership, 541.

46 cutting expenses by 25 percent: Emily Thornton, “Wall Street’s Lone Ranger,” BusinessWeek, March 4, 2002.

46 became co-chief executive in June 1998: Paulson was named Goldman’s co-chief executive and co-chairman on June 1, 1998—less than two weeks before Goldman voted to go public. “Goldman Sachs Promotes Paulson, Takes Step Toward Public Offering,” Dow Jones, June 1, 1998.

46 $300 million as part of a Wall Street bailout of Long-Term Capital: Lowenstein, When Genius Failed, 215.

46 Goldman pulling its IPO: Patrick McGeehan, “Goldman Shelves Plan to Go Public—Unsettled Markets Cited as Chief Cause,” Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1998.

46 retired from Goldman’s powerful executive committee: At the end of October, Goldman announced that Zuckerberg would retire at the end of its fiscal year (November). Anita Raghavan, “Zuckerberg, Goldman’s Vice Chairman, to Retire as the Guard Changes at Firm,” Wall Street Journal, October 23, 1998.

47 Corzine had tears in his eyes: Ellis, The Partnership, 609-13.

47 trading debut in a $3.66 billion offering: On May 4, 1999, after a seven-month delay, Goldman went public— selling an oversubscribed 69 million shares for $53 each—and officially ending its 130 years as a private partnership. “Goldman Sachs Shares Soar in Long-Awaited Trading Debut,” Dow Jones, May 4, 1999.

48 a $4.3 million home: Marc Gunther, “Paulson to the Rescue,” Fortune, September 29, 2008.

48 oversaw a department of 112,000: Ibid.

49 refurbishment of the building’s basement gym: Gunther, “Paulson to the Rescue,” Fortune.

49 “When there is a lot of dry tinder”: Paulson used similar language in an interview he later did with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley: “You know, we are about due for some kind of market turbulence,” he told the news program. “I didn’t expect quite this. But I said to the team, as we worked, ‘You never know, when there’s a lot of dry tinder out there, you never know what spark is gonna light the tinder.’ ” 60 Minutes, CBS News transcripts, September 28, 2008.

49 “We have these periods every six, eight, ten years”: Daniel Gross, “The Captain of the Street,” Newsweek, September 29, 2008.

49 “wind-down authorities”: At a September hearing on U.S. credit markets, Paulson said, “We were not left with the authorities we needed fully to protect the system and the taxpayer, because we have wind-down authorities, where the insurance or, you know, savings depositors, FDIC insurance—in 75 years, you know, we haven’t had a saver with FDIC insurance lose a penny.” See “Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Holds Hearing on U.S. Credit Markets,” Congressional Quarterly transcripts wire, September 23, 2008.

54 Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval: John Helyar and Yalman Onaran, “Fuld Sought Buffett Offer He Refused as Lehman Sank,” Bloomberg News, November 10, 2008.

CHAPTER THREE

58 an agitated Timothy F. Geithner took the escalator: Geithner’s plane left LaGuardia Airport at 7:00 p.m., arriving in D.C. at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, 2008. Geithner’s daily schedules at the New York Fed can be viewed online at the New York Times Web site. See http://documents.nytimes.com/geithner-schedule-newyork-fed#p=1.

59 “The most important risk is systemic”: “Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Washington, D.C,” April 3, 2008. See http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/speeches/2008/gei080403.html.

59 the $29 billion government backstop: A week after the deal, J.P. Morgan agreed to cover $1 billion of Bear Stearns’ losses, lowering the Fed’s backstop to $29 billion. Robin Sidel and Kate Kelly, “J.P. Morgan Quintuples Bid to Seal Bear Deal,” Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2008.

59 comparing the Bear rescue unfavorably: “I have reached a certain age where I can remember quite a few things, and there are some resemblances between the present situation, I’m afraid, and the early 1970s,” said Paul Volcker, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York on April 8, 2008. See http://econclubny.org/files/Transcript_Volcker_April_2008.pdf.

59 “Ford to City: Drop Dead ”: On October 30, 1975, this New York Daily News headline appeared on the front page, a day after President Gerald Ford said publicly that there would be no federal bailouts for a near bank rupt New York. Ford later lamented that he had never actually used the words “drop dead ” in his speech. Sam Roberts, “Infamous ‘Drop Dead’ Was Never Said by Ford,” New York Times, December 28, 2006.

61 after announcing a record loss: On Sunday, November 4, 2007, Citigroup held an emergency board meeting, which revealed that there could be up to $11 billion in additional subprime write-downs. Later that day Citi installed Robert Rubin as chairman and released this statement from Prince: “It is my judgment that given the size of the recent losses in our mortgage-backed securities business, the only honorable course for me to take as chief executive officer is to step down. This is what I advised the board.” Jonathan Stempel and Dan Wilchins, “Citigroup CEO Prince Expected to Resign,” Reuters, November 4, 2007; Tomoeh Murakami Tse, “Citigroup CEO Resigns,”