Richard Fuld

Dick Fuld is an American banker and executive best known as the final Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Fuld had held this position since the firm's 1994 spinoff from American Express Company until 2008. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 on September 15, 2008, and subsequently announced a sale of major operations to parties including Barclays Bank and Nomura Securities.

Fuld packaged high risk sub-prime loans into bonds and passed on to investors billions of dollars of toxic debt.

From the years 1993 to 2007, he is reported to have received nearly half a billion dollars in total compensation. In 2007, Fuld was reported to have been paid a total of $22,030,534, which included a base salary of $750,000, a cash bonus of $4,250,000, and stock grants of $16,877,365. CNN named Fuld as one of the "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits of the Collapse" of the 2008 financial collapse in the United States; he was placed at number 9 on the list. On November 10, 2008 Fuld sold his Florida mansion to his wife Kathleen for $100; this may protect the house from potential legal actions against him. They had bought it only 4 years earlier for $13.56 Million. On March 17, 2009, New Jersey governor Jon Corzine commenced a lawsuit on behalf of the state of New Jersey against Fuld. In December 2008, Fuld was given the "Lex Overpaid CEO" and "thief" award of the Financial Times for having received $34m in 2007 and $40.5m in 2006, the last two years before his bank's failure. CNBC named Fuld at the top of its list of "Worst American CEOs of All Time", stating he is "belligerent and unrepentant".

In April 2009 Fuld took up a position with New York hedge fund Matrix Associates.

"You don't have a gun; that's good." Said Fuld to a Reuters reporter who had tracked him down to his country house.

"When I find a short-seller, I want to tear his heart out and eat it before his eyes while he's still alive," said Fuld.

"What, do people think I'm an idiot, that suddenly I woke up two months before and suddenly things were a problem? No. No, the signs were there,” said Fuld.

Sourcewatch resources

 * Lehman Brothers