Really interested to know how many of the WSO guys were at Lehman, Bear or any other institution that went under in 2008 or around that time
Particularly interested if you had any personal stories to share about what it was like on the inside of these firms whilst all hell was breaking loose. I was recently watching a documentary and it peaked my interest in what employees were/weren't being told by management and to those who lost your job, how easy did you find it to go somewhere else or did you leave finance completely?
Any personal little anecdotes would be very insightful (obviously without giving away too much personal info)
@"DickFuld"
I think my story is pretty well known. Let's just say it was not a good time in my life.
@"Jared Dillian" @illiniprogrammer
Not a good time in your life? You extracted hundreds of millions from the company. I'd say public scrutiny is a pretty small price to pay for how much you raked in.
Plus they cast James Woods to play you in HBO's "Too Big To Fail." James Woods is a damn good actor. Golden Globe winner, even.
How much are you extracting from your job?
Monday started off as a going away party for thousands of employees. People showed up to collect their stuff and exchanged contact information.
Then there was a big announcement that the CEO of Barclays wanted to buy up the bankrupt entity and the employment relationship with the former employees.
Bob Diamond showed up on the trading floor, traders played "God Save the Queen" over the hoot, and put up an American and British flag on two columns of the trading floor. We all had jobs and we needed to keep working on whatever we were doing.
It was an interesting time.
Which documentary CityBoy?
I listened to the "Day that Lehman Died" audio drama from the BBC recently (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0043kcq). It was fucking terrible as wannabee insight into how stuff really happens.
It sounded like business/deal making dialogue written by people who had never been near a real deal in their lives.
Alternatively, if it was a fair depiction of 2008, then American deals are negotiated way, way too melodramatically.
The most unrealistic dialogue for me was the conversation in the bathroom between Lehman guys and reps of other banks, where the scriptwriters had the Lehman guys speaking defensively of Lehman with passionate loyalty. I've never met a banker who speaks as dumb-arse as that to any other banker, no matter how much they love their bank. Certainly no one would speak like that when it's clear their ship is going down and they need to be thinking of exit opps.
Listening to it now, this shit is straight ridic
If you haven't read @"Jared Dillian"'s book, it is great: http://www.amazon.com/Street-Freak-Memoir-Money-Madness/dp/1439181276
I don't recall if it covers the fallout in detail, but an amazing read regardless.
Interviewer: "So please tell me about yourself and walk me through your background."
Interviewee: "2008. Where were you? This interview is done."
My mother was a cleaning lady at Bear Sterns Does that count too?
My father worked at JP (joker penis).
My first job out of college was at bear!
Read "Street Freak" by Jared Dillian, good book that will give you a look inside from one of their traders at the time.
Got into the business immediately following the full blown crisis. Spent my first year cleaning up the mess of my terminated predecessor, as well as the day to day. Recently switched from AM to restructuring banks and BUSINESS IS GOOD.
Got the whole idea of working in finance while bartending: I used to buy drinks for and pick up drunk finance execs off the floor and drive them home when they saw their life's work explode in '08. Felt bad for them, was kind, they returned the favor and gave me guidance.
Life can be strange, it can be good, it can be weird....just roll with it.
That's a pretty sweet story, in all honesty. Networking is key.
In 2008, I was a Jr. Analyst working for one of the big banks that cut 20,000 + jobs in the U.S. alone that year.
The first round of layoffs occurred in April 2008. These were followed by weekly mandatory meetings with HR and other departments. One Manager who lost all of his reports that day packed up his desk and was escorted out of the building. It was a very surreal moment. Some of my colleagues were angry about it all and thought that the CEO had screwed up. But most stayed quiet and tried to be extra diligent to hold on to their jobs.
Towards the end of the second round of layoffs in June 2008, we were asked to fill out and submit weekly job performance cards to our Managers, and we knew it was to determine who would stay on and who would be let go. We all new that layoffs were inevitable. But it wasn't until our next meeting in late August 2008, that would decide our fate. HR had set up shop in offices left empty by laid-off employees and called us in one at a time, letting us know that this is your package and today is your last day with the company...
Staff members stand in a meeting room at Lehman Brothers offices in the financial district of Canary Wharf in London in September, 2008 during the stock market crash and financial crisis.
http://static1.uk.businessinsider.com/image/54e62da6dd08957e098b4684-12…
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