Erin Callan explained

Erin Callan runs Credit Suisse's hedge fund business, but she will be remembered for a long time as the sacrificial lamb at Lehman Brothers. She spoke, at times emotionally, about those stormy days with Fortune. A lot of people think that then-CEO Richard Fuld, who has certainly taken his lumps, forced her out. But she says the decision to leave was hers. "In retrospect I was lucky to get out, but I was so sad. It wasn't a relief at the time. I never thought I would leave that firm. It had such a strong culture. People really lived their lives there. I think Dick felt personally horrible about it because I was his protégé. During this difficult conversation with me, he cried." Strong stuff. This sort of emotionalism may have hurt when it came to the commercial real estate portfolio. The bank could not bring itself to cut its losses, she says.

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