From Lehman’s Wreckage, New Lives
One Year Later, CEO Fuld Says He Is Sorry, but His Firm Is Slow to Grow; Many Ex-Workers Find Their Feet, Selling Commodities, Rugelach
By SUSANNE CRAIG and IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN
Richard Fuld Jr., the former chief of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., is having a hard time putting the past behind him.
Lehman’s collapse one year ago this weekend turned a Wall Street crisis into a full-blown global panic, capping its leader’s transformation from Wall Street prince to pariah. Mr. Fuld, who remained defiantly optimistic about his 158-year-old investment bank’s prospects even in its final days, has been haunted since by its demise, say friends and associates.
Facing hate mail, regulatory probes and dozens of civil suits over his role in the firm’s fall, Mr. Fuld has publicly said he did all he could to save Lehman and has faulted the government for letting his firm fail while rescuing others. Privately, however, he apologized for his role in Lehman’s collapse in an emotional and previously unreported address in April.
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Ex-CEO Richard Fuld has been haunted by Lehman’s fall
From Lehman Wreckage, Lives Emerge
Aline Almeida: New Job, New Hobby
Charles Ayres: Same Group, New Owner
Larry Bortstein: Handling the Lehman Estate
Aubrie Fine: On Her Feet With Fond Memories
Jason Kilgariff: Somewhat Happy Trails
Sally Saltzbart Minier: From Feeding Lehman’s Legions to Her Own Bakery
And five more former Lehman employees
“I spent too much time out of the office with clients and trusted other people to manage the risk,” he told employees of a new firm staffed by former Lehman workers, says an attendee. “I’m sorry.”
Mr. Fuld, who hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing, declined to be interviewed.
As thousands of former Lehman employees have sought to move on, their former boss meets a rare degree of skepticism as he seeks to rebuild his presence on Wall Street. Mr. Fuld, who once oversaw 25,000 employees, has opened a financial-advisory firm on Manhattan’s Third Avenue, with two assistants and an aide.
His new Matrix Advisors LLC has received a handful of assignments, he has told people. He has given hours of free advice to a firm run by a former Lehman employee, say people familiar with the matter. High-profile friends, including IBM Corp. CEO Samuel Palmisano and real-estate magnate Jerry Speyer, have wished him well and offered him advice.
But some potential clients privately say they wouldn’t hire Mr. Fuld at this time, worried about the unresolved probes he faces.
“When you are associated with toxicity, you have to wait for it to settle down,” Joseph Grano, a retired Wall Street executive, recalls telling Mr. Fuld over dinner recently at Manhattan’s Il Tinello.
Mr. Grano says he praised Mr. Fuld’s connections and expertise but counseled patience: “Whether you like it or not, you’re going to be deflecting for the next two years.”
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