The Devil's Casino : Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers

SUMMARY: They were the Rat Pack of Wall Street. Four close friends: one a decorated war hero, one an emotional hippie, and two regular guys with big hearts, big dreams, and noble aims. They were going to get rich on Wall Street. They were going to prove that men like them - with zero financial training - could more than equal the Ivy-League-educated white shoe bankers who were the competition. They were going to create an institution for men like them -- men who were hungry and untrained - and they were going to win, but not at the cost of their souls. In short, they were going to be the good guys of finance. Under their watch, Lehman Brothers started to grow and became independent again in 1994. But something had gone wrong on the journey. The men slowly, perhaps inevitably, changed. As Lehman Brothers grew, so too did the cracks in and among the men who had rebuilt it. Ward takes you inside Lehman's highly charged offices. You'll meet beloved leaders who were erased from the corporate history books, but who could have taken the firm in a very different direction had they not fallen victim to infighting and their own weaknesses. You will encounter an unlikely and almost unknown Marcus Brutus, who may have had more to do with Lehman's failings than anyone--including Dick Fuld, who has widely been considered the poster-child for the mistakes and greed of all bankers. What Ward uncovers is that Lehman may have lost at the risky games of collateralized debt obligations, swaps, and leverage but that was just the end of a bigger story. "Little Lehman" was the Wall Street shop known to be forever fighting for its life and somehow succeeding. On Wall Street it was cheekily known as "the cat with nine lives." But this cat pushed its luck too far -- and died, the victim of men and women blinded by arrogance. Come inside "The Devil's Casino" and see how good men lose their way, and see how a firm that rose with the glory and bravado of Icarus fell burning in flames not so much from a sun, but from a match lit from within. Das Scheitern von Lehman Brothers und die Entscheidung, die altehrwrdige Investmentbank untergehen zu lassen, wird Jahrzehnte fr Diskussionsstoff sorgen. Whrend die meisten Analysten, Experten und Investoren sich auf ungesicherte Hypothekenkredite, ?faule? Sicherheiten und Abfindungen und Boni fr die Managementebene fokussierten, konzentrierten sich einige wenige Blicke auf den berchtigten Vorstandsvorsitzenden bei Lehman, Dick Fuld. Denn es gibt eine grere Geschichte, die in den Blickpunkt geraten wird, sobald sich der Tumult legt, und diese Geschichte hei Warum wurde Lehman gestattet zu scheitern und wer genau setzte sich fr den Niedergang ein? Welche Beweggrnde gab es? Wussten die in den Untergang Lehmans verstrickten Akteure, was sie taten, und um die Konsequenzen? Oder opferten sie lieber die Bank, um so selbst ungeschoren davonzukommen ? mit katastrophalen Folgen. Nur Vicky Ward, eine Insiderin unter den Journalisten, Autorin fr Vanity Fair und Kolumnistin beim Evening Standard, hat Zugang zu den Schlsselfiguren und das notwendige Verstndnis fr die Finanzwelt, um enthllen zu knnen, was genau am Wochenende des 14. September geschah und zu welch schrecklichen Konsequenzen dies fhrte. Es ging nicht so sehr darum, dass die Anteilseigner ausradiert wurden oder sogar die Fremdkapitalgeber, sondern es ging um die aufbrausende Schockwirkung, als sich zahllose Kunden und Geschftspartner um ihr Geld betrogen sahen, und um eine Entwicklung, die zu dem anschlieenden Chaos fhrte, unter dem die Welt noch heute leidet. Wie konnte dies geschehen, whrend die Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie Mae und Freddie Mac, um nur einige zu nennen, gerettet wurden? Warum wurde IndyMac geschtzt und WaMu in die Arme von Chase getrieben, Lehman aber erlaubt, in den Ruin zu gehen? Vicky Ward zeigt dies den Lesern in der dnnen Luft der Wall Street, wo selbst die Top-Vorstnde nach Luft schnappen, in einer Welt hchster Einstze, in der es um das finanzielle berleben geht. Von Hochzeitsfeiern bis hin zu Konferenzen, auf denen die Hauptfiguren, von denen man annahm, sie seien dort, nicht erschienen - Vicky Ward enthllt, was an jenem schicksalhaften Wochenende und in den der Finanzkrise vorangegangenen wirklich geschah. Sie demaskiert die tatschlichen Schlsselfiguren und legt ihre Beweggrnde offen. Sie stellt eine Welt dar, in der die sogenannten ?bad guys? letztlich gar nicht so bel erscheinen, und die weien Ritter nicht so makellos sind, wie wir dachten.

The inside story of what really happened at Lehman Brothers and why it failed

In The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers, investigative writer and Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward takes readers inside Lehman's highly charged offices. What Ward uncovers is a much bigger story than Lehman losing at the risky game of collateralized debt obligations, swaps, and leverage.

A can't put it down page turner that opens the world of Wall Street to view unlike any book since Bonfire of the Vanities, except that The Devil's Casino isn't fiction.

• Details what went on behind-the-scenes the weekend Lehman Brothers failed, as well as inside Lehman during the twenty years preceding it
• Describes the feudal culture that proved both Lehman's strength and its Achilles' heel
• Written by Vicky Ward, one of today's most connected business and finance writers

On Wall Street, Lehman Brothers was cheekily known as "the cat with nine lives." But as The Devil's Casino documents, this cat pushed its luck too far and died?the victim of men and women blinded by arrogance.

The inside story of what really happened at Lehman Brothers and why it failed In The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers, investigative writer and Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward takes readers inside Lehman's highly charged offices. What Ward uncovers is a much bigger story than Lehman losing at the risky game of collateralized debt obligations, swaps, and leverage. A can't put it down page turner that opens the world of Wall Street to view unlike any book since Bonfire of the Vanities, except that The Devil's Casino isn't fiction. Details what went on behind-the-scenes the weekend Lehman Brothers failed, as well as inside Lehman during the twenty years preceding it Describes the feudal culture that proved both Lehman's strength and its Achilles' heel Written by Vicky Ward, one of today's most connected business and finance writers On Wall Street, Lehman Brothers was cheekily known as "the cat with nine lives." But as The Devil's Casino documents, this cat pushed its luck too far and died?the victim of men and women blinded by arrogance. Ward takes you inside Lehman's highly charged offices where you'll meet beloved leaders who were erased from the corporate history books, but who could have taken the firm in a very different direction had they not fallen victim to infighting and their own weaknesses