Richard Fuld, disgraced former chief executive of Lehman Brothers, has resurfaced, giving an interview to Reuters from his home in Idaho. A year on from the collapse of the investment bank, he said: “The anniversary’s coming up. I’ve been pummeled, I’ve been dumped on, and it’s all going to happen again. I can handle it. You know what, let them line up.” He said he’s concerned about what will be said and written about him in the days leading up to the September 15 anniversary, but stressed he will see it through. Fuld, 63, took Lehman’s reins in 1994 when it was troubled and rebuilt it into the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank. But, has since been blamed for playing a key role in its downfall and for being out of touch with trading room activities. He is named in nearly 40 different legal actions since Lehman went bankrupt, but refused to comment on these. Meanwhile, Lawrence McDonald, a former Lehman vice president of distressed debt and convertible securities trading, wrote a book about the Lehman collapse — “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense” — called Fuld arrogant and irresponsible. Fuld described the book as “absolutely slanderous,” adding: “What, do people think I’m an idiot, that suddenly I woke up two months before and suddenly things were a problem? No. No, the signs were there, You know, ‘Dick never left his office.’ Well, I left my office, I left my office plenty.” Fuld is now said to have started his own consulting firm named Matrix Advisors, based out of an office on Third Avenue in New York. He is also doing some work for restructuring firm Alvarez and Marsal, helping to unwind Lehman free of charge, according to sources.
Lehman’s Fuld Claims He’s Been ‘Dumped On’
He said he’s concerned about what will be said and written about him in the days leading up to the September 15 anniversary, but stressed he will see it through.
September 8, 2009