How Big Was Lehman's Hole?
Dick Fuld may think there was “no capital hole” at Lehman when it collapsed, but the bankruptcy examiner’s report showed giant losses in the balance sheet, especially when you take into account the famed Repo 105 transactions. But, the report still fails to add up.
Lehman's bankruptcy administrator has put the losses at $130 billion. Lehman’s net worth as of May 31, 2008 was reported at $26 billion. So if we accept the $130 billion estimate, the swing from reported net worth to losses realized was over $150 billion. Naked Capitalism does some back-of-the-envelope calculations to find the source of the hole.
The Continuing Mystery of the Lehman Black Hole [Naked Capitalism]