When you have a guy– let’s call him Dick Fuld– who has spent a decent chunk of his career being referred to as “The Gorilla,” it’s difficult to impossible to expect underlings to assume that underneath the cold-blooded exterior beats the heart of sensitive soul. When this guy is known to speak in monosyllabic sentences and random outbursts, the notion that he wants to talk about feelings is a tough sell. When it’s common knowledge that, on at least one occasion, this guy has choked out the head of another company during a board meeting– and found nothing wrong with that– most people don’t figure it’s a wise idea to walk into this guy’s office, wrap their arms around him and tell him “it’s not your fault,” as he sobs and sobs, burying his face their your shoulder. That’s because most people didn’t really know Dick Fuld. One former employee though, Kevin White, was lucky enough to get a taste. Continue reading »
crying
Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Vivid Account Of Hank Paulson Vomiting Coming To A Small Screen Near You
By Bess Levin
In a move sure to chap Hank Paulson’s hide, HBO has acquired the rights to Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail (along with Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera’s book on the fall of Lehman). Not because the former Treasury Secretary doesn’t get a kick out of the Hollywood-ization of his life’s work, or because he isn’t excited at the prospect of scoring an invite to the premiere, but because this book is full of lies. Damned lies. He doesn’t vomit. He dry heaves. Christ on a crutch someone needs to get this right, for once. You think if anyone could it’d be wonderboy, but, apparently, you’d think wrong.
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Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire Saudi investor, said banks that made loans to Dubai World should have understood the risks they were taking and can’t claim to be victims of the emirate’s debt crisis. “These banks are very mature banks, and they have to differentiate between a corporate loan and a sovereign loan,” Alwaleed, 54, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “When things go sour, you can’t have some banks in the West going to Dubai and saying ‘oops’ and crying wolf and saying, ‘You should have guaranteed those loans.’”
Alwaleed said confusion over whether the Dubai government would back Dubai World’s debt “was not helpful at all” and damaged investor confidence in the region. “However, you have to understand that other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and neighboring Abu Dhabi are countries to be reckoned with,” Alwaleed said. “With the price of oil where it is now, I don’t think their economies will be shaken at all.”
And just because:
