The events of Easter Sunday of March 23, 2008, are well revealed.

However, skeptics, like Euro Pacific Capital’s president Peter Schiff, maintain that the numbers are erroneous. Callan’s conference call that is held on March 18 th is a success, as Goldman Sachs’ manipulated reports indicate that Lehman’s profit earnings are $1.5 billion. 7 His associate, Joe Gregory, chooses Erin Callan as Lehman’s CFO. 6 Later, Fuld ascends to Lehman’s top leadership (CEO) after American Express, a brokerage division of the firm, is sold for $360 million. Sorkin delves into the “class warfare on Wall Street” with Glucksman promoting the idea that investment bankers are higher in the pecking order than traders. His mentor is Lewis Glucksman, a career stocks trader. Next, Fuld’s early career, beginning as an intern at Lehman Brothers before rising to his current position, is described. Later, Stearns’ earnings manipulations are uncovered, necessitating a federal bailout to cushion its shareholders from losses that would affect investor confidence. 5 The plummeting stocks highlight the risks related to cheap loans and uncontrolled borrowing. 4 Lehman’s stocks are not performing well, having fallen by 14.6% the previous week, while those of Bear Stearns, an investment bank, are sold at a rate of $30 per share. They include the opening of the “Fed’s discount window” that gave the firm access to “cheap rates” reserved for major commercial banks.

Specific scenes unfold with Richard Fuld, Lehman’s CEO, defending the company’s financial models and decisions on March 17, 2008. 3 As a result, the credit risk rises to levels that are higher than usual, precipitating a major economic crisis in America, Europe, and Asia. 2 The flawed financial model they are using leads to an exaggerated debt-to-equity ratio of 32 to 1. Consequently, financial executives relying on optimism-driven speculation reward themselves with hefty pay-outs and bonuses amounting to $50 billion. It all starts in 2007 when mortgage firms receive big profits due to rewarding innovations and policies in the real-estate sector. Sorkin starts by giving a profile of Lehman Brothers, one of the Big Five Wall Street firms at the center of the financial crisis in 2008.

Sorkin too big to fail