Hey, Richard Fuld. Everybody Hates You.
Richard Fuld said on Monday that he takes full responsibility for his actions. Of course, the 62-year-old believes he did nothing wrong as the CEO of Lehman Brothers. Appearing in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committe, Fuld’s Q & A session was rife with excuses.
Fuld’s list of blame looks like this:
1. Lack of confidence
2. Short selling
3. False rumors
In case you missed it, here’s the Full Text of Fuld’s Speech .
The third reason seemed to irk Fuld the most. He said “unsubstantiated rumors in the marketplace caused significant harm to Lehman Brothers” and also said “Some of the media coverage of Lehman Brothers’ demise has been sensationalized – based on rumors, speculation, misunderstandings and factual errors.”
Here’s a CBS News Video of the report. Making money was one of the biggest issues that came up Monday. Committee representatives asked him how he could pocket nearly $500 millions over the past 8 years, while his company was on the fast track to extinction.
Fuld’s brilliant response?
“I think for the years you’re talking about here I believe my cash compensation was close to 60 million and the amount I took out of the company over and above that was closer to 250 million. Still a large number though.”
Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks Fuld is a bit pompous. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough yelled, “Put him in Jail!” when the news was read about his testimony.
And protesters from the organization ‘Code Pink’ spent the entire day on Capitol Hill calling for his incarceration.
[Image courtesy Code Pink].
What did you think of Fuld’s testimony? How much blame does he deserve, if any??
October 17th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Fuld is an easy mark. I think CEOs, like any person at the top of a huge organization, get too much of the credit when things go well and too much of the blame when things go bad. This doesn’t help the PR problem CEOs and corporate America have, but this guy still walks away with millions. In my limited experience learning about business reporting and getting the inside view of my wife who works for Morgan Stanley, I’ve come to the conclusion that many CEOs get to the top not because of smarts or acumen, but they know how to play the game and are really good salesman and bullshitters.
October 18th, 2008 at 8:15 am
While I can appreciate the need for a scapegoat, these attacks on Bob Fuld are as pointless as blaming the tooth-fairy because you didn’t get money under your pillow.
Fuld, as well as former Lehman president, Joseph Gregory and former CFO Erin Callan have been subpoenaed by the Justice Department to determine whether or not the bank mislead investors.
Mind you, these are the same investors who didn’t seem to mind that the firm had been so heavily invested in mortgage-backed securities as long as they were making a profit.
Now, the investors are crying “foul.”
There is no point in crucifying Fuld and his subordinates. The bank is gone. No one will get their money back. And, now, the demise of Lehman is poised to enter the history books alongside Enron.
Investors should consider this an object lesson.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Interesting idea. I think you could have been more foucsed by listing Fuld’s more ridiculous answers….or I think you could have turned this into a post on the reactions he generated from people like Joe scarborough…..