York on Monday morning at 1:45 a.m. See www.lehman-docket.com; Peg Brickley, “Lehman Makes It Official in Overnight Chapter 11 Filing,”
376 “Everybody’s prepared this time”: Annelena Lobb, “A Chaotic Sunday Opens Wall Street’s Week,”
377 sent out a note to his clients: “Analysts’ View 3—Lehman Files for Bankruptcy, Merrill to be Sold,” Reuters, September 15, 2008.
379 a mogul unto himself: Landon Thomas Jr., “Banker, Loan Maestro Jimmy Lee Switched Suspenders for Sweaters,”
379 finance some of the biggest deals in history: Ibid. Beginning in the late seventies at Chemical Bank, Lee raised hundreds of billions for companies on the brink, such as IBM, General Motors, Seagram, Nextel, and AT&T, to name a few. Robert Lenzner, “Jimmy’s List,”
381 they were angry: Aleksandrs Rozens, “Death of an Era: Within the Span of Several Days, Wall Street Loses Two Titans,”
381 Wall of Shame: Ibid.; McDonald and Robinson,
381 “Dumb and Dumber,” “Voting in Braille Only”: Ibid.
382 Geithner’s phone conference with Dimon, Blankfein: According to Geithner’s calendar, the call was scheduled from 10:00 to 10:15 a.m. that Monday.
383 relatively uneventful press conference of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch: A press release on Bank of America’s Web site early Monday morning announced the merger with Merrill Lynch, and also that Lewis and Thain would be hosting a press conference at 10:00 a.m. in the auditorium at Bank of America’s New York City headquarters. See http://www.bankofamerica.com/merrill/.
384 formally agreed to allow AIG to use some of its regulated insurance company assets: In a press conference at noon on Monday, September 15, New York governor Paterson said that he had given Eric Dinallo “authorization, such that AIG can access $20 billion of its assets through its subsidiaries for the purpose of posting these assets as collateral to provide liquid cash in order to run the day-to-day operations of the parent company.” States News Service, “Transcript: Governor Paterson Press Conference on AIG—September 15, 2008,” September 15, 2008.
385 Geithner called and told him he should be at this meeting instead: Paterson thanked Dinallo in his speech, acknowledging that he was presently meeting with Federal Reserve officials.
385 to discuss the fate of the insurers Ambac and MBIA: Susanne Craig and Liam Pleven, “Credit Crunch: Good Plan, but Who Will Pay?”
388 “I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend”: Paulson’s comments to the press, and their questions, were taken from transcripts released by the White House. “White House Conducts Press Briefing, Sept. 15,” 1:42 p.m. EDT. US Fed News, September 15, 2008.
392 “It is oddly reassuring that the Treasury Department … let Lehman Brothers fail”: “Wall Street Casualties,”
393 “Stocks Plunge as Crisis Intensifies”: Glenn Kessler and David S. Hilzenrath, “Stocks Plunge as Crisis Intensifies; AIG at Risk; $700 Billion in Shareholder Value Vanishes,”
393 The Dow Jones Industrial Average had slumped 504.48 points: The Dow dropped 504.5 points on Monday
396 Fed had kept Lehman’s broker-dealer in the United States open: According to Lehman’s official press release issued that Monday, the company was “exploring the sale of its broker-dealer operations” and its subsidiaries, including Neuberger Berman, LLC, and Lehman Brothers Asset Management, would “not be subject to the bankruptcy case of its parent.” See http://www.lehman.com/press/pdf_2008/091508_lbhi_Chapter11_announce.pdf.
397 as was the case with Ramius Capital: Cassell Bryan-Low, “Crisis on Wall Street: Funds Assess Lehman (Gulp!) Exposure,”
397 he presided over the FOMC meeting at the Federal Reserve in Washington: The meeting was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. See http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC.
397 Federal Reserve Act, Section 13, point 3: www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/section13.htm.
398 “regulatory capital relief ”: From AIG’s 10-Q filing, August 6, 2008: “Approximately $307 billion of the $441 billion in notional exposure on AIGFP’s super senior credit default swap portfolio as of June 30, 2008, was written to facilitate regulatory capital relief for financial institutions primarily in Europe.”
398 AIG’s vast insurance empire: A “strictly confidential ” AIG presentation draft, dated February 26, 2009, entitled, “AIG: Is the Risk Systemic?” states that “AIG has written more than 81 million life insurance policies to individuals worldwide” at a face value of $1.9 trillion, with more than $12 billion in claims paid in 2008.
400 he knew the top people in the industry: Susanne Craig, “In Ken Wilson, Paulson Gets Direction From the Go-To Banker of Wall Street,”
400 telling the press that he planned to mount a proxy contest: “Hank Greenberg: Plans Fight for Control or Buyout of AIG,” Dow Jones Newswires, September 16, 2008.
400 Dear Bob: The full text of Hank Greenberg’s letter to Robert Willumstad, dated September 16, 2008, can be viewed online at http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/AIG09162008.pdf.
403 He and Ben Bernanke had scheduled a meeting with President Bush: According to the
404 “Well, you finally get your chance”: Richard Beattie’s remarks to Robert Willumstad, as first reported in
