House of Cards (93 page)

352. “underestimating the severity”:
WSJ,
June 23, 2007.

355. Meeting again with the fund's repo lenders: The account of the June 18, 2007, BSAM meeting with creditors comes from a presentation used at the meeting by BSAM executives.

356. “were taken aback”:
WS],
June 23, 2007.

Chapter 28: A Very Stupid Decision

358. “I've never seen a dealer”:
National Mortgage News,
June 25, 2007.

358. “They were all friends”: Bloomberg, June 25, 2007.

366. “the current scourge of Wall Street”:
WSJ,
June 23, 2007.

369. hire Marc Lasry:
Financial Fines,
January 10, 2008.

369. “It's like painting the Verrazano Bridge”:
WS],
June 30, 2007.

370. Cayne played about twenty rounds of golf: Reuters, August 6, 2007.

370. “grow and grow”:
Business Limited,
June 30, 2007

Chapter 29: Nashville

374. “they did not say a word”:
NYT,
August 8, 2007.

382. Cayne shot an 88:
New York Post,
August 8, 2007.

386. “the Bernanke doctrine”:
NY,
December 1, 2008.

Chapter 31: Desperate Times Call for Hare-Brained Schemes

417. “Jimmy Cayne should be out”:
Financial Fines,
January 9, 2008.

418. “Being acquired is not a strategy”:
Financial Fines,
January 10, 2008.

Epilogue: The Deluge

431. The e-mail correspondence referred to regarding Lehman Brothers was made public at Richard Fuld's October 6, 2008, testimony before the House Committee on Oversight.

442. “With Bear Stearns”: Cassidy,
NY,
December 1, 2008.

This book would have been inconceivable—literally—without any number of dedicated professionals at Doubleday. At the very top of this list is my friend and editor Bill Thomas, who woke up one day in March 2008, saw that his 401(k) had been decimated and decided there must be a book in what became the financial crisis of 2008. Steve Rubin, another longtime friend and the former publisher of Doubleday, was also instrumental to this book's fruition. I am immensely grateful to both of them. I am also very appreciative of Sonny Mehta's support as my new publisher.

From there, in alphabetical order, I would like to thank, at Doubleday, Melissa Ann Danaczko, David Drake, John Fontana, Chris Fortunato, Rebecca Gardner, Phyllis Grann, Suzanne Herz, Rebecca Holland, Corey Hunter, Alison Rich, Kathy Trager, and Sue Warga. I would also like to thank my British team, Helen Confort and Pen Vogler.

There were also a number of people formerly affiliated with what used to be known as Bear Stearns & Co. who were very helpful to me in the writing of this book. They were, especially, Paul Friedman, Robert Upton, Tom Flexner, Donald Tang, Steve Begleiter, Doug Sharon, Tom Marano, Sam Molinaro, Fares Noujaim, David Glaser, Ed Levy, Vince Tese, Fred Salerno, Tony Novelly, and Suzette Fasano. A special thanks— for his insights and generosity of spirit—goes to Jimmy Cayne, the longtime CEO and personification of Bear Stearns.

Others, not affiliated with Bear Stearns, were extremely helpful, too, including Frank E. Schramm III, Sandy and Barbara Lewis, Roger Lewis, Tim Geithner, Calvin Mitchell, Susan McLaughlin, Gary Parr, Rodgin Cohen, Steve Schwarzman, Peter Rose, Larry Summers, Alan Mnuchin, John Gutfreund, Harold C. Mayer Jr., Gary Cohn, Ken Wilson, David Solomon, Michael DuVally, Lucas Von Praag, Peter Truell, Andy Merrill, Sam Heyman, John Angelo, Patricia Cayne, Philip Alder, Russell Roberts, Michael Ledeen, Roddy Boyd, Bennet Sedacca, Meredith Whitney, Guy Moszkowski, Laurie Kaplan, Anne Norton, Alexandra
Lebenthal, Dr. Jay Meltzer, Erin Callan, Felicia Grumet, and Stephen Cohen, No surprise, there were
many
others who were essential to telling this story but who would prefer to remain anonymous. They know who they are, and I thank them.

Personally, I have been sustained throughout this eight-month sprint by my usual cast of unusual characters, who always knew when to serve up either a laugh or a dose of worthy criticism. Among them were David Supino and Linda Pohs Supino, Jamie Kempner, Don and Anne Edwards, Al Garner, Jeffrey Leeds, Jeremy Sillem, David Resnick and Cathy Klema, Alan and Pat Cantor, Gil Sewall, Andy and Courtney Savin, John Buttrick, Jerome and M. D. Buttrick, Hamilton Mehlman, David Webb, Kit White and Andrea Barnet, Mary Murfitt and Bonnie Hundt, Seth Bernstein, Marc Daniel, Freddi Wald, Adam Reed, John Brodie, Andy Serwer, Carol Loomis, Shawn Tully, Jeff Liddle, Patty Marx, Robert Douglass, Gwen Greene, Peter Davidson and Drew McGhee, John Morris and Marcia Santoni, Jeff and Kerry Strong, Mike Cannell, John and Tracy Flannery, Robert and Francine Shanfield, Andy and Lauren Weisenfeld, Alan and Amanda Goodstadt, Alexandra Penney and Dennis Ashbaugh, Stuart and Randi Epstein, John Feldman, Esther Newberg, Jay and Louisa Winthrop, Stu and Barb Jones, Michael and Fran Kates, Jim and Sue Simpson, Jay Costley, Jay Pelofsky, Eric Osserman, Charlie and Sue Bell, Rick Van Zijl, Steve and Leora Mechanic, Stuart Reid, Tim and Nina Zagat, Joan Osofsky, Bryce Birdsall and Malcolm Kirk, Tina Brown and Sir Harry Evans, John Gillespie and Susan Orlean, and Gemma Nyack. I also want to thank my in-laws and relatives, the Futters and Shutkins, in toto. My parents, Suzanne and Paul, as well as my brothers, Peter and Jamie, and their wives and families, continued to be hugely supportive of me, and I thank them, again.

My dear friend and literary agent Joy Harris saw what this book could be and, as always, became its fiercest advocate. My unending thanks and considerable love go her way.

Finally, and once again most emphatically, I have been nurtured throughout this lonely journey by my adorable and loving family, Deb Futter and Teddy and Quentin Cohan.

Needless to say, any errors in fact, of omission or commission, are my responsibility alone.

DOUBLEDAY

Copyright © 2009 by William D. Cohan

All Rights Reserved

www.doubleday.com

DOUBLEDAY
and the DD colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cohan, William D.
House of cards : a tale of hubris and wretched excess on Wall Street /
by William D. Cohan.— 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Bear, Stearns & Co. 2. Investment banking—United States.
3. Bank failures—United States. 4. Financial crises—United States.
I. Title.
HG4930.5.C64 2009
332.660973—dc22

2008053915

eISBN: 978-0-385-53046-0

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