Commentary
Former Lehman CEO Punched in the Face
Does a bloated, arrogant CEO of a failed investment bank deserve a punch in the nose? Apparently a growing number of people fed up with the Wall Street crisis think the answer to this question is YES!
I came across a story this morning in Alaska Pride (Hawaiian Honor’s sever was down) about former Lehman Brother CEO Richard (Dick) Fuld’s run-in with the fist of a former employee. It seems that punching these former titans is not only popular, but may be the only form of justice they will experience.
The folks at Alaska Pride were responding to a piece on the Business and Media Institute website reporting that Fuld was punched square in the kisser (blame hole would be a better term) at Lehman’s gym shortly after the firm filed for bankruptcy in late September. The Anchorage Activist who wrote this story would like to buy this guy a beer for punching his former boss.
The Business and Media Institute said that while Fuld was testifying on Capitol Hill before the House Oversight Committee yesterday, CNBC, the financial news network, reported this story about the assault at the Lehman gym by a former employee.
Fuld went to the gym right after Lehman announced the firm was filing for bankruptcy. He was blissfully waddling his misdeeds away on a treadmill – attached to a heart monitor of all things – when a man standing nearby dropped his iron weights, strolled over and knocked his lights out. Fuld fell to the ground in a pile of quivering lard – OK, I wasn’t there, but doesn’t that sound good?
CNBC was interviewing Vicki Ward of Vanity Fair at the time, who had this to say about Fuld’s testimony:
I thought he was shameless. I thought it was appalling. He blamed everyone. He blamed, as you say, ‘naked short sellers’ over and over in case we didn’t get the point, when in fact hedge funds like Harbinger had money locked up in Lehman and was shorting it to try and make the most of the money that they already had. He blamed everybody but himself.
Suffice it to say Ward thinks Fuld was in dire need of a sock in the nose as well.
The Washington Post reported that Fuld was asked repeatedly why he allowed Lehman to make such huge and risky bets, paid lavish severance packages to outgoing cronies as he was seeking government help, and claimed that the firm’s balance sheet was rock solid just five days before filing for bankruptcy. (What a Richard!)
In response, Fuld unleashed the wagging finger of blame, as Vicki Ward so eloquently noted. He also took great pains to mention that he owned 10 million Lehman shares when they filed for bankruptcy; he wasn’t getting a fancy severance package or a glistening parachute spun from gold. But, he did manage to pocket $484.4 million in pay since 2000, so I don’t think he’ll be suffering too much in the post-Lehman era.
I am torn. Is it OK to punch someone, forming a fist of justice to remedy what our crippled and corrupt institutions won’t? Both the Vanity Fair journalist and the Anchorage Activist determined that Fuld deserved the punch. He is an arrogant, selfish bastard. He will continue to live in the lap of luxury while thousands of Lehman employees hunt for new jobs in an inhospitable environment.
I think he deserves more pain than what a single punch can deliver. Fuld and others in his position will not suffer material discomfort (only watery eyes from random blows to the face) for their mistakes. Even if he is found guilty of criminal mischief, Fuld will go to a federal prison that has laundry service and ample light for houseplants. Fuld made a fortune by risking everyone else’s future. This whole financial mess is a heads they win, tails we lose situation. Punishment should not come only when fist meets face, but when CEOs with empty pockets meet the cold street.
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Tags: CEOs, Commentary, executive pay, finance, Fuld, investment bankers, Lehman-Brothers, Richard Fuld, Wall Street Crisis Discussion
5 comments for “Former Lehman CEO Punched in the Face”
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They should get punched. I normally don’t like violence to solve problems, but Fuld is a crook. If he’s guilty he won’t go to Riker’s that’s for sure.
Punch them all out then stick em on street corners in nyc when it gets cold
They need to be investigated and prosecuted. Let them spend all that money on an attorney.
You can be upset with them for the golden parachutes, that was selfish and flat out wrong, but they did not cause the mess in the markets. It was under Clinton’s watch when Fannie Mae relaxed the loan requirements for new homeowners. It was a noble cause, but a stupid idea that caused this mess. When house prices were increasing at 10% a year, Lehman (along with a lot of other institutions) partook in the CDO investments to make money… the shareholders/employees didn’t seem to be complaining then. Had they or anyone else known what was around the corner, I doubt they would have continued to plan their own demise. Again, the millions that were paid out to the executives just before the house of cards fell down was absolutely wrong, but you cannot solely blame the CEO that the investments went to shit. Not only is Clinton, Fannie Mae, the rating agencies, and the mortgage lenders at fault, but so is the average Joe who was dumb enought to take out an interest-only loan that was 8x his salary. He’s as much to blame as anyone.
I agree with you that the blame for this mess spreads from coast to coast. But I often hear that it was bad loans to poor people that started this disaster (why were so many of these loans made with such onerous requirements?). And what about all of the Option ARMs and Alt-A loans peddled to middle income buyers? In my opinion, it was the overall ignorance of risk that caused the credit bubble to grow and then burst. I wrote a piece last week explaining my position that the very same voters bitching to their representatives shared the blame. A mess this large would not have occurred without systemic failure throughout both government and private sectors. Finally, I think the CEOs should be held to account – much more so than the people on the lower rungs. That is what is wrong with this country today – no one seems to be punished for their f***ups. (By the way, politicians on both sides of the fence who either sat idly by or encouraged this s*** show should be run out of the DC swamp and into the woodshed.)