John Mack delivered an amazing speech at Wharton and fortunately it has been posted on YouTube. It appears to be a brutally honest look at Morgan Stanley (MS) at the nadir of the crisis. It's full of color--his driver sped down a bike lane to make a meeting at the Fed--and information about government figures.

It was clear after Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers failed that "Morgan Stanley would be next in line. We knew there would be a run on the bank," despite having $181 billion in cash on hand. The Fed was pushing hard for Mack to merge with JPMorgan (JPM) or Citi (C), and he pushed right back at Henry Paulson. He broached the idea of a deal with Mitsubishi--Paulson said the Japanese firm would take forever to make a decision.

Mack ended up pulling it off. Incidentally, this is what he told employees about their Morgan Stanley shares: "If you want to sell the stock, sell it," which is admirable.

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