Posts Tagged ‘lehman’

How A Bunch Of Really Smart Kids Ruined Everything (Volume 1)

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

“Repo 105″ – like Four Loko, but more dangerous to the health of your company.

Ever wonder how enormous old financial firms suddenly bite the dust? Well, the answer (according to the man suing Ernst & Young for civil fraud)  is that they do stupid things with the help of accountants.

According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, giant accounting firm Ernst & Young helped their client Lehman Brothers hide billions of dollars in debt so that it would look like a healthier company than it really was. For seven years. Until (surprise!) Lehman went bankrupt in 2008.

Lehman owed a lot of people a lot of money (like, billions of dollars). But they didn’t want to go around telling people about it.

mathemagician-by-kf6gpe.jpg

credit: kf6gpe

So (according to the lawsuit) Ernst & Young helped them hide their little debt problem with a ninja accounting tactic called “Repo 105.” Basically, Lehman would sell off a bunch of their assets and use the money to pay off some debt. That day was a good day, because when they had to show their financial reports to the world, it looked like they didn’t owe billions of dollars.

But – here’s the genius part – the next day, they would buy back the assets they sold at an even higher price, taking on more debt than they had before.

In exchange for its creative accounting services, Ernst & Young received $150 million in fees from Lehman between 2001 and 2008. Ernst says it was just using “generally accepted accounting principles,” which makes you wonder what other firms have been drinking. Cuomo says it will be paying those fees back to the State of New York by the time he’s done with them.

Art Auction Draws Attention From Investors of All Types

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

A batch of prestigious works of art that once hung proudly in the corporate headquarters of Lehman Brothers find new homes at auction in Philadelphia.

  • The works were sold for a total of $1.35 million in order to help repay Lehman creditors.
  • The sale lasted six hours and most pieces sold for significantly more than their presale high estimates.
  • The Lehman name attracted art collectors and investors that were looking for a piece of history.

Facts & Figures

  • 283 pieces were sold at more than double their projected total of $760, 800
  • Lehman owes $250 billion to its creditors
  • The top lot was Roy Lichtenstein’s Statue of Liberty print (1982) for $49,000, estimated presale at $25,000

Best Quote

“I think there was a certain amount of trophy hunting. What’s not to like? It’s nice boardroom art, presented nicely, ready to go up on the walls. People laced it up.” – Alasdair Nichol, Vice Chairman and Auctioneer of Freeman’s Auctioneers in Philadelphia