Andrew Sorkin - Too Big to Fail - The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves

310 the same home he had purchased in 1958 for $31,500: Roger Lowenstein, “King Midas—Warren Buffett,” Independent on Sunday , February 18, 1996.

319 David Bonderman of Texas Pacific Group: Riva D. Atlas and Edward Wong, “Texas Pacific Goes Where Others Fear to Spend,” New York Times, August 25, 2002.

319 watched his investment lose virtually all of its value in less than half a year: Peter Lattman, “WaMu Fall Crushes TPG,” Wall Street Journal, September 27; Geraldine Fabrikant, “WaMu Tarnishes Star Equity Firm,” New York Times, September 27, 2008.

320 Paulson hated Flowers, and the antipathy was mutual: Peter Truell and Joseph Kahn, “Goldman Sachs Nears Decisive Talks on Going Public,” New York Times, June 2, 1998.

324 “Urgent. Code name: Equinox”: Craig, McCracken, Lucchetti, and Kelly, “The Weekend that Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal . For a more detailed account of Weil Gotshal’s involvement in the Lehman bankruptcy, see Ben Hallman, “A Moment’s Notice; Weil Gotshal Put Together the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History in Record Time.” American Lawyer, December 1, 2008.

329 “If we do that”: Cohan, House of Cards .

332 Eric R. Dinallo: Matthew Karnitschnig, Liam Pleven, and Peter Lattman, “AIG Scrambles to Raise Cash, Talks to Fed,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2008.

335 Merrill had just sold $8.55 billion of convertible stock: “Thain Gains $2 Mln on Merrill Lynch Share Purchase,” Reuters, July 31, 2008.

335 the restaurant plays host to Wall Street bigwigs over lunch: Landon Thomas Jr. “Make Your Best Offer and Pass the Parmesan, Please,” New York Times, October 2, 2005.

338 the “good bank”: Cohan, House of Cards, 445.

339 “How much equity do you need to raise”: This exchange between Gary Shedlin and Michael Klein was first reported in William D. Cohan’s article for Fortune magazine, soon followed up in his book, House of Cards . According to Cohan, “Shedlin confirmed the exchange to Fortune ; Klein did not respond to requests to be interviewed.” See William D. Cohan, “Three Days That Shook the World,” Fortune, December 16, 2008.

339 lost $20 billion more than anyone had recorded: Eric Dash and Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Throwing a Lifeline to a Troubled Giant,” New York Times, September 18, 2008.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

342 “I don’t think I can take another day of this”: The “Goldman aide” referenced in the Wall Street Journal is Blankfein’s chief of staff, Russell Horwitz. Susanne Craig, Jeffrey McCracken, Aaron Lucchetti, and Kate Kelly, “The Weekend That Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2008.

342 not-so-subtle reference to John Whitehead: John C. Whitehead, A Life in Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero: An Autobiography, New York: Basic Books, 2005.

342 “Certain Deal Issues”: Author obtained copy of document.

343 had posed a decade earlier: “Merrill ’s Mr. Allison, reading from a handwritten sheet, spelled out the terms. ‘We think we need $4 billion to assure the fund can withstand any concerted attack by others against its positions.’ Sixteen firms were asked to pitch in $250 million.” Michael Siconolfi, Anita Raghavan, and Mitchell Pacelle, “All Bets Are Off: How the Salesmanship and Brainpower Failed at Long-Term Capital,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 1998.

343 “What the fuck are you doing?”: Lowenstein, When Genius Failed, 203.

343 he had contributed only $100 million: Wall Street Journal, November 16, 1998.

344 Merrill ’s market capitalization: According to Standard & Poor’s, Merrill’s market capitalization for Friday, September 12, 2008, was $26.1 billion. “Five Facts About Merrill Lynch and Bank of America,” Reuters, September 14, 2008.

345 “It looks like we may have the outlines of a deal around the financing”: William D. Cohan, “Three Days,” Fortune .

345 tapped out a message on his BlackBerry to Michael Gelband: A version of this anecdote was reported by Steve Fishman, “Burning Down His House,” New York , December 8, 2008.

345 McCarthy, meanwhile, in London …: Nick Mathiason, “Three Weeks That Changed the World,” The Observer , December 28, 2008.

347 FSA’s refusal to waive shareholder-approval requirements: As reported by Bloomberg, Barclays spokesman Leigh Bruce said: “The only reason it didn’t happen is that there was no guarantee from the U.S. government, and a technical stock-exchange rule required prior shareholder approval for us to make a similar guarantee ourselves. We didn’t have that approval, so it wasn’t possible for us to do the deal. No U.K. bank could have done it. It was a technical rule that could not be overcome.” John Helyar and Yalman Onaran, “Fuld Sought Buffett Offer He Refused as Lehman Sank,” Bloomberg, November 10, 2008.

349 editorial in the Sunday Telegraph: Mark Keinman, “Barclays Should Be Wary of the Gorilla in Its Midst,” Sunday Telegraph , (London), Sep 14, 2008.

351 “We lost the patient”: James. B. Stewart, “Eight Days: The Battle to Save the Financial System,” The New Yorker, September 21, 2009.

353 “What if the system collapses?”: Paulson, On the Brink, 215. Paulson rarely publically ack nowledges his faith nor his most intimate conversations with his wife. This anecdote, as described by him in his memoir, was perhaps the most revealing he has ever been about his religion and his emotional state that weekend.

352 “Those of you who do not want to assist a Barclays deal”: Author received notes from this meeting, with Paulson’s remarks dictated, as well as Geithner’s proposal to create a $100 billion emergency fund for the three remaining investment banks.

353 Thain had had coffee with Ken Lewis that morning: Referenced by Craig, McCracken, Lucchetti, and Kelly in “The Weekend that Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2008.

354 “Couldn’t have gone more poorly”: Diamond’s e-mail exchange read to author.

355 “We’ve got a good deal in hand ”: Greg Fleming’s words to Peter Kraus were first reported in the Wall Street Journal and differ slightly from the author’s subsequent reporting. According to the WSJ , Fleming said: “We have a great deal in hand, and need to finish doing this deal.” Susanne Craig, Jeffrey McCracken, Aaron Lucchetti, and Kate Kelly, “The Weekend That Wall Street Died,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2008.

356 together they had prepared an offer for the company: Zachary R. Mider and Erik Holm, “Allianz, Flowers Said to Have Bid for AIG Before Fed Takeover,” Bloomberg, September 17, 2008.

356 The company’s actual market value on Friday had been about $31 billion: “With a market value of $31 billion on Friday, based on an intraday low of $11.49, it now trails some other insurers, including AXA SA. The shares slipped further after the closing bell, following a warning from Standard & Poor’s that it may cut AIG’s ratings.” Lilla Zuill, “AIG Could Hold Investor Call as Soon as Mon,” Reuters, September 12, 2008.

357 “I don’t approve of ”: Dr. Paul Achleitner of Allianz denies having made these comments. However, several eyewitnesses confirmed that these were the words he used.

358 Dannhauser grabbed three senior partners: Ben Hallman, “A Moment’s Notice for Lehman,” American Lawyer, December 16, 2008.

359 Roberts took a call from a partner: Ibid.

359 “You don’t understand the consequences”: Ibid.