Lehman Brothers, RIP

Wow! What else is there to say? In an extraordinary weekend, Wall Street has been remade. We've written recently that Lehman Brothers was another Bear Stearns. But it's even worse. It was forced into bankruptcy despite a frantic weekend of negotiating among top regulators and Wall Street execs. In the end, the government sealed Lehman's fate--and indirectly Merrill Lynch's. You cannot argue with Henry Paulson's decision not to extend the same backing for a potential Lehman deal that the government did to JPMorgan's deal for Bear Stearns (some $30 billion in assurances). At some point, someone had to end the moral hazard. At the same time, without such assurances, you can't blame Barclays and Bank of America for walking away, which left death as the only option for storied Lehman Brothers. Incredible.

For more:
- here's the AP overview
- Lehman employees already in a Bear Stearns-like situation. Article
- Bank of America, Lehman, could it have been a natural fit? Article
- Lehman has decided not to provide coffee for camped-out reporters
- the last minute options. Article

Related Article:
Lehman Brothers, another Bear Stearns after all