Lehman Brothers | The Wolf at The Door
1/27/202635 min
As Lehman Brothers teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson summons Wall Street’s most powerful figures for one fateful weekend—their last chance to save Lehman and prevent the collapse of the global financial system.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLindsay Graham· Host0:00
American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research. [mellow music] It's early August 2008 at Lehman Brothers' headquarters in New York City. Dick Fuld, the investment bank's 62-year-old CEO, paces back and forth in his office. He can't stop looking at the door, because in a conference room just down the hall, his team is negotiating a deal with a Korea Development Bank, one that could save Lehman. But Fuld isn't part of the talks. Lehman's team has convinced him he'll do more good outside the room. It's a classic negotiating technique. By claiming to need the CEO's approval, the Lehman team thinks they'll be able to push for better terms. But Fuld is getting nervous. He hates not knowing what's happening, and wonders if the negotiators are rushing the deal or getting the right price. Fuld has been at Lehman for four decades, and led it as CEO for almost 15 years, so it seems to him ridiculous that he'll have no say in its fate. Finally, he decides he can't take it any longer. He leaves his office and marches down the hall. [footsteps] Everyone stares, startled,