Multiple media sources including USA Today have reported on ex-Lehman Brothers boss Dick Fuld, who finally broke his silence 7 years after the collapse of the investment banking giant. Kaja Whitehouse of USA Today reported today that former Lehman Bros. chief Dick Fuld spoke publicly for the first time since the 2008 collapse on Thursday in part to pave the way for this summer’s relaunch of the National Stock Exchange, which Fuld partly owns.
Highlights:
– The 69 year-old Fuld had not spoken publicly since the 158-year-old brokerage and investment bank collapsed under a mountain of risky assets in 2008.
– Fuld is part-owner of the 130-year-old electronic National Stock Exchange, which handled only roughly 13 million shares – a minuscule 0.2% of all U.S. stock trading. The exchange was shuttered last year but is now set to relaunch.
“Please understand. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about Lehman Brothers. Not a day. My motto is: That was then this is now,” Fuld told the audience.
– Mr. Fuld owns shares in the National Stock Exchange through two entities that collectively own a 36% stake: Thor Investment Holdings LLC, which owns 16%, and TIP-1 LLC, which owns 20%.
– In 2009 Mr. Fuld founded Matrix Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions consulting firm based in midtown Manhattan. Plans for the firm as reported by USA Today now include opening a licensed real estate brokerage, Matrix RE Brokerage LLC.
Mr. Fuld remains somewhat defiant and blames a myriad of actors for the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Naturally not all were so happy to see the re-emergence of the ex-Lehman chief, the Financial Times got a few quotes surrounding his public appearance.
“I have a few words I’d like to say to him,” said Brian Choi, a former Lehman employee who is now vice-president at Woerner Holdings, an investment firm. “You screwed so many.”
Another in the audience remarked: “There should be a Plexiglas shield in front of him.”