271 “The change in rating agency posture”: Alistair Barr,“Treasury, Fed Reportedly Helping as Deal Sought by This Weekend,” MarketWatch.com, September 11, 2008.
271 “He is as feisty as ever”: Louise Story, “Tough Fight for Chief at Lehman,”
272 buy Chicago’s LaSalle Bank from ABN: “ABN AMRO Shareholders Vote in Favor of Sale, Breakup,” Dow Jones, April 26, 2007.
273 It is with deep regret: Letter obtained by author.
274 had just gotten off the phone with Geithner: The
275 If the agency cut AIG’s credit rating by even one notch, it could trigger a collateral call of $10.5 billion: Greg Farrell, Aline van Duyn, and Nicole Bullock, “S&P in Warning after AIG Shares Plunge,”
274 The cost to insure the debt of AIG: Lilla Zuill, “AIG Woes Knock Its Market Value Below Peers,” Reuters, September 11, 2008.
274 Hank Greenberg, being deposed that day: In the midst of settling a Delaware shareholder suit for $115 million, Greenberg began his deposition with Andrew Cuomo for a civil fraud lawsuit, which would stretch over the next several days
274 “What the hell are you people waiting for?”: James Bandler, “Hank ’s Last Stand,”
275 If the agency cut AIG’s credit rating: Mary Williams Walsh and Jonathan D. Glater, “Investors Turn Gaze to A.I.G.,”
276 Texaco trucks and Eastern Airlines jets: Stephen Labaton, “Bankruptcy Bar: Never So Solvent,”
276 he billed clients nearly $1,000 an hour: Jonathan D. Glater, “The Man Who Is Unwinding Lehman Brothers,”
276 He had grown up in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn: Ibid.; Labaton, “Bankruptcy Bar,”
277 “Bankruptcy,” he once said, “ is like dancing”: Ibid.
284 “Fuld is a friend. Try to help, but don’t bail Lehman out”: Paulson,
286 “With a beleaguered Lehman”: Jessica Papini, “Possible Govt Backstop for Lehman Buy Has Two Prior Models,” Dow Jones, September 11, 2008.
287 “Federal officials currently”: Efrati, “Greenberg Settles,”
287 “But while the Treasury Department”: Walsh and Glater, “Investors Turn Gaze to A.I.G.,”
287 “At least in the Bear case”: “Lehman’s Fate,”
288 “Source: There will be no government money”: Steve Liesman to David Faber,
290 “Lehman is going down”: Susanne Craig, Jeffrey McCracken, Aaron Lucchetti, and Kate Kelly, “The Weekend that Wall Street Died,”
290 “We’re not Lehman”: Ibid.
291 “concerns about AIG’s ability to shed”: “AIG Shares Fall 20 Percent On Mortgage Woes,” Reuters, September 12, 2008.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
299 he had given her some $4,600 in donations: On February 21, 2007, Lloyd Blankfein made two contributions, of $2,300 each, to Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign. See http://www.opensecrets.org.
300 after testifying at a hearing for the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: “Summit to Consider How to Achieve a More Secure, Reliable, Sustainable, and Affordable Energy Future for the American People.” Friday, September 12, 2008.
302 BofA shares closed that day at $33.74: Bank of America rose $.68 or 2.1 percent, to $33.74 on Friday, September 12, 2008. “Finance Companies Shares Mixed at the Close of Trading,” Associated Press, September 12, 2008.
303 “a quality which, for lack of a better word, I can best describe as epic.” Christopher Gray, “Mix of Limestone and Sandstone, in Florentine Style,”
303 a three-level vault: www.newyorkfed.org.
303 Emergency meeting at NY Fed: Evan Thomas and Michael Hirsh, “Paulson’s Complaint,”
305 “He is in denial,” Paulson continued: Author obtained notes from the emergency meeting at the New York Federal Reserve.
305 “There is no political will for a federal bailout”: Deborah Solomon, Dennis K. Berman, Susanne Craig, and Carrick Mollenkamp, “Ultimatum by Paulson Sparked Frantic End,”
