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The Last of the Imperious Rich: Lehman Brothers, 1844-2008
On September 11, 1844, Henry Lehman arrived in New York City on a boat from Germany. Soon after, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he and his brother Emanuel established a modest cotton brokering firm that would come to be called Lehman Brothers.
On September 15, 2008, Dick Fuld, the last CEO of Lehman Brothers, filed for corporate bankruptcy amid one of the worst financial crises in American history. After 164 years, one of the largest and most respected investment banks in the world was gone, leaving everyone wondering, "How could this have happened?"
Peter Chapman, an editor and writer for The Financial Times , answers this question by exploring the complete history of Lehman Brothers between those two historic Septembers. He takes us back to its early days as a cotton broker in Alabama, and then to its glory days as one of the leading corporate financiers in America. He also provides an intimate portrait of the people who ran Lehman over the decades-from Henry Lehman, the founder, to Bobbie Lehman, who led the company into the world of radio, motion pictures, and air travel in first part of the 20th century, to Dick Fuld, who allowed it to morph into a dealer of shoddy securities.
Throughout his account of this imperiously rich firm, Chapman examines the impact Lehman Brothers had not only on American finance but also on American life. As a major backer of companies like Pan American Airlines, Macy's, and RKO, Lehman helped lead the country into major new industries and helped support some of its most intrepid entrepreneurs.
He then shows how, starting in the 1980s, Lehman's increased focus on short-term gain investments led the firm down the dangerous path that would eventually lead to its demise.
In the end, the story of Lehman Brothers is not only the story of a truly important American company but a cautionary tale of what happens when leaders lose sight of their core mission in their quest for something too good to be true.
On September 15, 2008, Dick Fuld, the last CEO of Lehman Brothers, filed for corporate bankruptcy amid one of the worst financial crises in American history. After 164 years, one of the largest and most respected investment banks in the world was gone, leaving everyone wondering, "How could this have happened?"
Peter Chapman, an editor and writer for The Financial Times , answers this question by exploring the complete history of Lehman Brothers between those two historic Septembers. He takes us back to its early days as a cotton broker in Alabama, and then to its glory days as one of the leading corporate financiers in America. He also provides an intimate portrait of the people who ran Lehman over the decades-from Henry Lehman, the founder, to Bobbie Lehman, who led the company into the world of radio, motion pictures, and air travel in first part of the 20th century, to Dick Fuld, who allowed it to morph into a dealer of shoddy securities.
Throughout his account of this imperiously rich firm, Chapman examines the impact Lehman Brothers had not only on American finance but also on American life. As a major backer of companies like Pan American Airlines, Macy's, and RKO, Lehman helped lead the country into major new industries and helped support some of its most intrepid entrepreneurs.
He then shows how, starting in the 1980s, Lehman's increased focus on short-term gain investments led the firm down the dangerous path that would eventually lead to its demise.
In the end, the story of Lehman Brothers is not only the story of a truly important American company but a cautionary tale of what happens when leaders lose sight of their core mission in their quest for something too good to be true.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 19, 2025
The first two thirds of the book cover the Lehman dynasty era, from Henry's arrival in America to Bobbie's death in 1969. As other reviewers have noted, this often reads like a general history of the period with the Lehman family popping up here and there. And the frequent citations give the impression that much of the information is sourced from previously published works.
The remainder covers the latter years, leading ultimately to the final collapse. There are few signs that he had direct access to anyone who actually worked for Lehman, relying instead on quotes from A Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Larry McDonald The Murder of Lehman Brothers by Joseph Tibman. There is analysis of what went wrong, such as a failure to manage risk and those at the top not understanding the products they were selling. McDonald's and Tibman's accounts show a loyalty to their former employer - and no doubt they feel more than a little aggrieved at the loss of their well-paid jobs. But Chapman is more scathing of the poor practice - to put it politely - that lead to the ultimate downfall. A quote from page 227 suggests to me where the rot set in. "Toward the end of November 1996 Lehman brothers abandoned one of the elements of its old economy... A month earlier it had stopped buying and selling precious metals and natural gas and would soon cease trading in all commodities, it said." My view at the time was that the financial services sector was built on sand; just a lot of hot money chasing its own tail, not underpinned by any trade in goods or services. It seemed obvious to me and to many other lay observers, but the bankers could not or would not see it.
Dick Fuld seems to me an example of the Peter Principle. No doubt he was a very capable trader, but promoted beyond his abilities as CEO.
The book naturally takes note of the financial disasters occurring during the period. But you will search in vain for any instances where the economy was crashed by welfare recipients or undocumented migrants or transgender people using the 'wrong' bathroom. It's always unregulated capitalism that does the damage.
The remainder covers the latter years, leading ultimately to the final collapse. There are few signs that he had direct access to anyone who actually worked for Lehman, relying instead on quotes from A Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Larry McDonald The Murder of Lehman Brothers by Joseph Tibman. There is analysis of what went wrong, such as a failure to manage risk and those at the top not understanding the products they were selling. McDonald's and Tibman's accounts show a loyalty to their former employer - and no doubt they feel more than a little aggrieved at the loss of their well-paid jobs. But Chapman is more scathing of the poor practice - to put it politely - that lead to the ultimate downfall. A quote from page 227 suggests to me where the rot set in. "Toward the end of November 1996 Lehman brothers abandoned one of the elements of its old economy... A month earlier it had stopped buying and selling precious metals and natural gas and would soon cease trading in all commodities, it said." My view at the time was that the financial services sector was built on sand; just a lot of hot money chasing its own tail, not underpinned by any trade in goods or services. It seemed obvious to me and to many other lay observers, but the bankers could not or would not see it.
Dick Fuld seems to me an example of the Peter Principle. No doubt he was a very capable trader, but promoted beyond his abilities as CEO.
The book naturally takes note of the financial disasters occurring during the period. But you will search in vain for any instances where the economy was crashed by welfare recipients or undocumented migrants or transgender people using the 'wrong' bathroom. It's always unregulated capitalism that does the damage.
June 8, 2022
Very disappointing book. I had high hopes. Not sure why it was even written. Throughout the book he references other books all the time- especially previous histories of Lehman Bros. and particularly Our Crowd. The book reads more like a history of the US with cameos by the leaders of Lehman and the Lehman family...as in there is the Civil Was and there is a Lehman doing something. It's WWI and there is another Lehman doing something. There is no coherency in the book and you learn oh so little about the company and its history. Save you time and read another book on Lehman.
May 16, 2017
since this year marks the 10 year anniversary of 2007 Subprime Loan crisis..and there have many videos, youtube and books about the crisis..and truly LM is not the centerfold figure..rather, there are other criminals who got away from this and continue to havoc on taxpayers money: up from government official and down to corporate elites..this is simply a great history book to have..
April 7, 2023
From rags to riches to rags - Lehman brothers. I think this was inspired by Forest Gump
September 16, 2025
Started out respected, made an honest killing.
Ended up in debt for 700 billion.
Ended up in debt for 700 billion.
February 6, 2016
Although linguistically capably written, this book thoroughly disappointed me. Reading it, I sometimes got the feeling that the author doesn’t quite know what he’s talking about, referring to the coast of Normandy as “the north European coast”, for example. While facts like these don’t make for the core of this book, they did make me doubt the general trustworthiness of the book. Adding irrelevant facts, seemingly impossible to verify, such as “[Henry Lehman] may have had a horse-drawn wagon” further pushes this point. Are the more relevant details in this book also based on guesses? Never mind, because facts are few and very far between among these pages. I also wonder why he explains Adam Smith’s invisible hand as an act of god’s intervention, and laissez-faire as a theory that says that “the economy follows its own path in line with the movements of the heavens”. Ridiculing free-market proponents as fundamentalist nut-bars is all fine with me, but after all this is meant to be a historical biography, not a political or economical analysis. It is not supposed to be opinionated – I cannot even understand how you manage to make an historical biography opinionated at all.
It all makes me wonder if this was really the book Chapman was excited about writing, or if he would have preferred writing something else. His very apparent strong opinions on some matters also make me question the objectiveness of his writing over-all. Were some uncomfortable details skipped? Were dubious stories concocted to twist the story a bit toward the author's liking? Obviously, the Lehman family is the reason why we have radio, airplanes, supermarkets and shopping centers. I’m pretty sure that Chapman has a strongly positive view of the Lehman family. More importantly, his knowledge in financial matters really seems seriously inadequate for writing a book like this – “companies whose fortunes the [investment] pools had played with faced collapse when their share price slumped” is just one ridiculous example of this. When buying and selling shares of a company (“playing”, as he writes) none of that money passes through the company’s coffers and so it couldn’t possibly affect the company’s finances. I wonder if this is an example of lack of knowledge or just another over-stretched example for why we should have more financial regulation. Again – how can you make this into a book about more or less regulation? Chapman, by the way, does not even mention how regulations affected Lehman Brothers or even what they thought about them, even though he writes a good deal about Herbert Lehman’s political career.
The author demonstrates his incompetence in many more ways than this, such as saying that share prices increases on buy-up rumors because the acquiring company might “cut cost structures”. Has Chapman even understood what an acquisition means, or more importantly what a share is in general? In an acquisition your shares get sold to the acquiring company, after which cost-cutting couldn’t bother you less. Your shares are sold at a premium of course, which is the real reason for the price increase. Chapman makes several odd and unverified statements like these, that I haven’t heard from anyone else, which makes it seem that he just doesn’t care about being right or factual, at least in business matters. He also claims that Lehman Brothers’ troubles following the death of the seemingly much important Robert “Bobby” Lehman in 1969 would be caused by the firm starting to use computers! I don’t know if that is true, it sounds ridiculous to me and I guess any other investment bank at that time was doing exactly the same without having any major crisis. No matter what, Chapman doesn’t even try to prove this theory, which I guess is only his.
It all makes me wonder if this was really the book Chapman was excited about writing, or if he would have preferred writing something else. His very apparent strong opinions on some matters also make me question the objectiveness of his writing over-all. Were some uncomfortable details skipped? Were dubious stories concocted to twist the story a bit toward the author's liking? Obviously, the Lehman family is the reason why we have radio, airplanes, supermarkets and shopping centers. I’m pretty sure that Chapman has a strongly positive view of the Lehman family. More importantly, his knowledge in financial matters really seems seriously inadequate for writing a book like this – “companies whose fortunes the [investment] pools had played with faced collapse when their share price slumped” is just one ridiculous example of this. When buying and selling shares of a company (“playing”, as he writes) none of that money passes through the company’s coffers and so it couldn’t possibly affect the company’s finances. I wonder if this is an example of lack of knowledge or just another over-stretched example for why we should have more financial regulation. Again – how can you make this into a book about more or less regulation? Chapman, by the way, does not even mention how regulations affected Lehman Brothers or even what they thought about them, even though he writes a good deal about Herbert Lehman’s political career.
The author demonstrates his incompetence in many more ways than this, such as saying that share prices increases on buy-up rumors because the acquiring company might “cut cost structures”. Has Chapman even understood what an acquisition means, or more importantly what a share is in general? In an acquisition your shares get sold to the acquiring company, after which cost-cutting couldn’t bother you less. Your shares are sold at a premium of course, which is the real reason for the price increase. Chapman makes several odd and unverified statements like these, that I haven’t heard from anyone else, which makes it seem that he just doesn’t care about being right or factual, at least in business matters. He also claims that Lehman Brothers’ troubles following the death of the seemingly much important Robert “Bobby” Lehman in 1969 would be caused by the firm starting to use computers! I don’t know if that is true, it sounds ridiculous to me and I guess any other investment bank at that time was doing exactly the same without having any major crisis. No matter what, Chapman doesn’t even try to prove this theory, which I guess is only his.
February 15, 2012
I'm halfway through the book; not the ebook, the hardcover book...The United Fruit Company that Bobbie Lehman took part in was a WELL KNOWN CIA front company. They (UFC) did much, much more than just supply boats for the failed invasion (Bay of Pigs), didn't they? Did they not (government/Lehman through United Fruit) fund the entire operation, too?
Also, is the author aware of a Lewis Glucksman/George Soros connection and did Soros have anything to do with the 1984 American Express debacle?
And Pete Peterson, the one that Nixon suspected of "leaks," was just the fall guy for Kissinger, the real culprit behind the leaks, right? His reward was a job at Lehman Brothers, correct?
Also, isn't it true that the Bush Justice Department was VERY CLOSE to many major indictments of banking officials, including Lehamn's, when 9-11 happened, thus squashing the potential for any banking indictments? (seven year statute.)
Fantastic book so far, though I hope the author delves a little deeper into the UFC/CIA/Lehman Brothers connection.(doubt it).I hope this book does not turn out to be another Bob Woodruff style disinformation book...
TWO DAYS LATER
Note; I believe the author could have added quite a bit more substance regarding above issues, these just a mere few. Perhaps, like Mr. Woodruff, this author hopes to continue being on important guest lists of the ONE-PERCENTERS...One thing for sure: (I'm sure this author knows well) BANKERS CAN THROW ONE HELL OF A PARTY! HOW? BY STEALING YOUR MONEY!!!!!
Also, is the author aware of a Lewis Glucksman/George Soros connection and did Soros have anything to do with the 1984 American Express debacle?
And Pete Peterson, the one that Nixon suspected of "leaks," was just the fall guy for Kissinger, the real culprit behind the leaks, right? His reward was a job at Lehman Brothers, correct?
Also, isn't it true that the Bush Justice Department was VERY CLOSE to many major indictments of banking officials, including Lehamn's, when 9-11 happened, thus squashing the potential for any banking indictments? (seven year statute.)
Fantastic book so far, though I hope the author delves a little deeper into the UFC/CIA/Lehman Brothers connection.(doubt it).I hope this book does not turn out to be another Bob Woodruff style disinformation book...
TWO DAYS LATER
Note; I believe the author could have added quite a bit more substance regarding above issues, these just a mere few. Perhaps, like Mr. Woodruff, this author hopes to continue being on important guest lists of the ONE-PERCENTERS...One thing for sure: (I'm sure this author knows well) BANKERS CAN THROW ONE HELL OF A PARTY! HOW? BY STEALING YOUR MONEY!!!!!
February 8, 2012
The book is a succinct account of a Jewish German family who immigrated to the United States and followed a unique path to success. The story begins with the arrival of Henry Leyman in New York City in 1842 from a turbulent Europe. Opportunity was limited in Henry's native Germany. Little is known about Henry's arrival in New York or why he soon chose to travel to Alabama to become a pedler along the Alabama River.
The story of his becoming established in Alabama and eventually becoming Alabama's chief financial officer is quite interesting. The author does a good job describing the circumstances of the time.
The story of his becoming established in Alabama and eventually becoming Alabama's chief financial officer is quite interesting. The author does a good job describing the circumstances of the time.
December 25, 2012
Mr. Chapman took the research he had done for his Bananas book and wrote this history of the Lehman Brothers banking business. It is a solid read. In the end there is nothing good to be said about the financial industries of the U.S. Unrestrained capitalism is an evil system as much as socialism. All systems need checks and balances against the evil of the human heart. The kind of money that was talked about for individuals was gross greed. His book describes it fairly.
October 20, 2013
Very good description of the early Lehmans who built the bank. But the post - Lehman era has been glossed over. Also not much detail of the actual financial crisis. Plus the book doesn't grip in many places where it diversifies in recollecting important global political and business events.
November 29, 2010
Well written, instructive history of a company whose founders had morals but later leaders did not. Fascinating the influence of one company and one family on America.
September 15, 2020
Written with a bias and slant that obfuscated any objectivity the writer might have begun with.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews