This book sets the record straight on why the Federal Reserve failed to rescue Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis.

Basis for the 2022 'Tony Award Best Play' winner Magnificent in scope, internationally lauded, and transcendent, the novel in verse that inspired the sensational West End and Broadway play of the same name. The Lehman Trilogy follows the epic rise and fall of three generations of that infamous family and through them tells the story of American ambition and hubris. After leaving his native Bavaria, Henry Lehman arrives in America determined to make a better life. Sensing opportunity in the Deep South, he opens a textile shop in Alabama, laying the foundation for a dynasty that will come to dominate and define modern capitalism. Emanuel and his brother Mayer begin investing in anything and everything that will turn a profit, from cotton to coal to railroads to oil to airplanes—even at the expense of the very nation that forged them. Spanning three generations and 150 years, The Lehman Trilogy is a moving epic that dares to tell the story of modern capitalism through the saga of the Lehman brothers and their descendants. Surprising and exciting, brilliant and inventive, Stefano Massini’s masterpiece—like Hamilton—is a story of immigration, ambition, and success; it is the story of America itself from a daring and original perspective. Translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) open access license. Using extensive documentary evidence and interviews with former Lehman employees, Oonagh McDonald reveals the decisions that led to Lehman’s collapse, investigates why the government refused a bail-out and whether the implications of this refusal were fully understood. In clear and accessible language she demonstrates both the short and long term effects of Lehman’s collapse.

Why was Lehman ignored when everyone else was bailed out? A risk advisor for top financial institutions and top B-school professor, Mark Williams explains how uncontrolled risk toppled a 158-year-old institution, using this story as a microcosm to illuminate the interconnection of the global financial system, as well as broader policy implications. This story is told through the eyes of an experienced risk manager and educator in a detailed and engaging way and provides the reader with a complete summary of how a savvy company with sophisticated employees and systems could have gotten it so wrong.

Erroneously states "1st Touchstone hardcover edition" in paperback copy.

The inside account of a financial meltdown that reshaped Wall Street In 1983, Lew Glucksman, then co-CEO of the heralded investment bank Lehman Brothers, demanded the resignation of chairman Pete Peterson, with whom he had long argued over how to manage the company. Shockingly, Peterson, who had taken charge a decade earlier and led Lehman from near collapse to record profits, agreed to step down. In this meticulously researched volume, Ken Auletta details the turmoil, infighting, and power struggles that brought about Peterson’s departure and the eventual sale of one of Wall Street’s oldest and most prestigious firms. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s stock exchange, where hotshot young traders made and lost millions in a single afternoon, the story of Lehman’s fall is a suspenseful battle of wills between bankers, traders, and executives motivated by greed, envy, and ego. Auletta, who conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and was granted access to private company records, has crafted a thorough, enduring, and engaging account of pivotal events that continued to influence this storied financial institution until its ultimate demise in 2008.

This is the remarkable memoir of Michael Ainslie, a man who has always embraced the adventures and misadventures of business and life. In A Nose for Trouble,he describes his personal experience with several high profile events, including the 2008 bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers: He was one of ten people in the Lehman boardroom on the evening of September 14, 2008 who saw firsthand the events that led to the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. And he offers readers an insider’s view of the situations surrounding the price-fixing scandal between Sotheby’s and Christie’s, a scandal that rocked the art world and sent the ex-chair of Sotheby’s to prison. Ainslie also shares about his early beginnings in life; his career as president, CEO, and board member across numerous companies and institutions; and his work to transform kids’ lives through the Posse Foundation. Whether he’s being carried out of his high school graduation on a stretcher, escaping a riot in Vietnam, facing death threats in NYC, battling a worldwide oil embargo, meeting with First Lady Nancy Reagan on the day her husband was shot, or revamping the USTA, Ainslie’s memoir shows that sometimes, the greatest lessons in life are a direct result of the adversities we face. A Nose for Trouble is about accepting a challenge, redefining misfortune, and rising above. In this fascinating life story of leadership and change, Michael Ainslie teaches readers that the best parts of ourselves often come out of our hardest moments.