Lehman Brothers | The Wolf at The Door | 3
American Scandal
Audible
4.5 • 19.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Lehman Brothers teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson summons Wall Street’s most powerful figures for one fateful weekend—their last chance to save Lehman and prevent the collapse of the global financial system.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | American scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. |
| 0:05.1 | Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research. |
| 0:31.0 | Thank you. It's early August 2008 at Lehman Brothers headquarters in New York City. |
| 0:37.2 | Dick Foll, the Investment Bank's 62-year-old CEO, paces back and forth in his office. He can't stop looking at the door, |
| 0:39.5 | because in a conference room just down the hall, his team is negotiating a deal with a Korea |
| 0:44.4 | Development Bank, one that could save Lehman. But Fold isn't part of the talks. Leman's team |
| 0:51.2 | has convinced him he'll do more good outside the room. |
| 0:56.0 | It's a classic negotiating technique. |
| 1:01.5 | By claiming to need the CEO's approval, the Lehman team thinks they'll be able to push for better terms. |
| 1:03.7 | But Fold is getting nervous. |
| 1:09.9 | He hates not knowing what's happening and wonders if the negotiators are rushing the deal or getting the right price. |
| 1:15.1 | Fold has been at Lehman for four decades and led it as CEO for almost 15 years, |
| 1:18.9 | so it seems to him ridiculous that he'll have no say in its fate. |
| 1:22.1 | Finally, he decides he can't take it any longer. |
| 1:24.6 | He leaves his office and marches down the hall. |
| 1:31.5 | Everyone stares startled as Fold bursts in. |
| 1:35.1 | Oh, please, no one get up. Mr. Sung, good to see you. |
| 1:40.4 | Fold passes Lehman's stunned negotiators to shake hands with Minu Sung, |
| 1:42.8 | who sits flanked by his lawyers and advisors. |
| 2:19.5 | Oh, we were not expecting you, Mr. Fult. I don't mean to interrupt. I'm sorry. I just wanted to see how things were going. Find out what you're doing to my company. Folle grins trying to pretend it's a joke. He then takes a seat at the head of the table between the two negotiating teams. So, what's the latest? Well, I think you'll be pleased, Mr. Foll. Today I received authorization from the Korean regulators to make an initial offer for Lehman. Well, I've heard you're interested in a controlling stake in Lehman, but only if we spin off our real estate assets. Is that right? That is correct. We're prepared to pay 25% over book value, and we're valuing Lehman somewhere between $20 and $25 a share, |
| 2:22.9 | a considerable premium over your current share price of $1550. |
| 2:25.5 | Your team has driven a hard bargain. |
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