The Devil’s Casino

The inside story of what really happened at Lehman Brothers and why it failed In The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers, investigative writer and Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward takes readers inside Lehman's highly charged offices. What Ward uncovers is a much bigger story than Lehman losing at the risky game of collateralized debt obligations, swaps, and leverage. A can't put it down page turner that opens the world of Wall Street to view unlike any book since Bonfire of the Vanities, except that The Devil's Casino isn't fiction. Details what went on behind-the-scenes the weekend Lehman Brothers failed, as well as inside Lehman during the twenty years preceding it Describes the feudal culture that proved both Lehman's strength and its Achilles' heel Written by Vicky Ward, one of today's most connected business and finance writers On Wall Street, Lehman Brothers was cheekily known as "e;the cat with nine lives."e; But as The Devil's Casino documents, this cat pushed its luck too far and died?the victim of men and women blinded by arrogance.

The inside story of what really happened at Lehman Brothers andwhy it failedIn The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High StakesGames Played Inside Lehman Brothers, investigative writer andVanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward takes readers insideLehman's highly charged offices. What Ward uncovers is a muchbigger story than Lehman losing at the risky game of collateralizeddebt obligations, swaps, and leverage.A can't put it down page turner that opens the world of WallStreet to view unlike any book since Bonfire of the Vanitiesexcept that The Devil's Casino isn't fiction.* Details what went on behind-the-scenes the weekend LehmanBrothers failed, as well as inside Lehman during the twenty yearspreceding it* Describes the feudal culture that proved both Lehman's strengthand its Achilles' heel* Written by Vicky Ward, one of today's most connected businessand finance writersOn Wall Street, Lehman Brothers was cheekily known as "the catwith nine lives." But as The Devil's Casino documents, this catpushed its luck too far and died?the victim of men and womenblinded by arrogance.

Cast of Characters.Prologue.Part One: The Ponderosa Boys.Chapter 1. A Long, Hot Summer.Chapter 2. The Beginning.Chapter 3. The Captain.Chapter 4. The "Take-Under".Chapter 5. Slamex.Chapter 6. The Phoenix Rises.Chapter 7. Independence Day.Chapter 8. The Stiletto.Chapter 9. The Ides of March.Chapter 10. Eulogies.Part Two: The Echo Chamber.Chapter 11. Russian Winter.Chapter 12. Lehman's Desperate Housewives.Chapter 13. The Young Lions.Chapter 14. 9/11.Chapter 15. No Ordinary Joe.Chapter 16. The Talking Head.Chapter 17. The Sacrificial Ram.Chapter 18. Korea's Rising Sum.Chapter 19. The Wart on the End of Lehman's Nose.Chapter 20. Damned Flood?Chapter 21. Closing the Books.Epilogue.A Note About the Sources.Notes.References.Acknowledgments.Index.