Replies to post #32509 on Lehman Brothers Financial SA (LEHNQ)

[cottonisking]

mi·rac·u·lous *** my old posts ***
/m?'raky?l?s/Adjective
1.Occurring through divine or supernatural intervention.
2.Highly improbable and extraordinary and bringing very welcome consequences: "our miraculous escape".



Synonyms
wonderful - marvellous - marvelous - wondrous

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This bankrupcy cannot have "almost miraculous result" if only the creditors get paid!

The creditors and equity holders must get paid in order to attach the words "almost miraculous result" to this case!

Miraculous just rocks me to sleep! LoL



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Lehman’s fee bills are “not excessive,” Miller said, considering the “almost miraculous result” of the case, which ended with Lehman winning creditors’ backing for its liquidation plan.

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-21/lehman-s-year-end-fees-filings-match-up-with-biggest-bankruptcy.html




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MANAGEMENT September 12, 2008 The Lehman Stock Slide Hits Home: Employees Face $10 Billion in Losses

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. boss Richard Fuld Jr. long encouraged his employees to share in the ownership of the 158-year-old firm. With Lehman's stock hovering at $4 a share, its 24,000 employees have now lost an estimated $10 billion or more in paper wealth.

The immense losses have taken a toll on top executives and rank-and-file alike, who collectively own roughly 25% of the company. "We're all a lot poorer," lamented one top banker Thursday.

That includes Mr. Fuld himself, who over 41 years at the firm accumulated 10.9 million shares, or roughly 1.4% of shares outstanding. The value of those shares is now $45.8 million, a paper loss of $649.2 million, or 93%, since Jan. 31.

Four other Lehman executives and directors who hold a combined 2.6 million shares have suffered comparable paper losses. They are: Chief Legal Officer Thomas A. Russo with 1.5 million shares; outside director Roger S. Berlind with 609,284; risk manager Christopher M. O'Meara with 259,791; and Chief Financial Officer Ian T. Lowitt with 248,056 shares.

On a call with investors Wednesday, Lehman executives were asked whether they planned to buy stock at this week's depressed levels. Mr. Lowitt replied that the "great deal of nonpublic and material information...has precluded any of our senior executives from buying any stock." Such barriers can block sales as well.
"Lehman Brothers insiders, like other shareholders, have lost a boatload of money," said Ben Silverman, director of research at InsiderScore.com LLC in Princeton, N.J., which tracks stock ownership by such "insiders." None of Lehman's top executives have disclosed purchases or sales of stock since January.

Employee-ownership is at the core of Lehman's culture, which has never really escaped its roots as a small, sometimes scrappy firm that prides itself on loyalty. Mr. Fuld granted a new slug of shares to employees in July as a way to keep them motivated.

When Lehman was spun off from American Express Co. in 1994, Mr. Fuld worked hard to make the firm employee-owned, believing it would help unify warring factions of bankers and traders. Today secretaries are typically given a token amount of stock each year, while senior executives receive a majority of their compensation in shares. Last year, Lehman's top five executives received 74% of their compensation in stock units or options.

Until last May, Lehman's employees owned a 30%-plus stake in the firm. That number has fallen to about 25% after the firm issued new shares to raise $4 billion in new capital. Lehman awards many of its shares as restricted-stock units, which typically can't be cashed in for five years. That has meant that many employees have been unable to sell shares even if they were keen to do so.
Lehman executives, like most on Wall Street, still had plenty of cash on hand. Mr. Fuld in 2004 paid $13.75 million for an oceanfront home in Jupiter Island, Fla. He has since rebuilt the home. Mr. Fuld has a handful of other properties, including a home in Sun Valley, Idaho, which he typically uses for late-summer vacations.

Former Lehman President Joe Gregory used to travel to work in a helicopter. He recently put his 9,500-square-foot Bridgehampton, N.Y., home, which features a 50-foot pool and 200 feet of oceanfront property, on the market for $32.5 million. A person close to Mr. Gregory said he is selling it because he rarely uses the place and he isn't facing a cash crunch.

Thursday, across the street from Lehman's midtown Manhattan headquarters, people waiting to order food at a fast-food vendor discussed the dive in Lehman's share price this week, and the latest headlines from CNBC, which had reported Lehman was now up for sale.

A group of three men, wearing Lehman badges and walking back into headquarters, discussed the fallout for other firms on Wall Street. "At some point, where does it stop?" one said.

Write to Randall Smith at [e-mail], Susanne Craig at [e-mail] and Annelena Lobb at [e-mail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122117966831526067.html

[scoreoneortwo]

Why then did the Europeans boast of being able to pay off their CTs ???

[hestheman]

Wow Penny....that is quite an informative post for beginners. Perhaps Mik and Ines will find that info useful. Understand, for a few of us....this is not our first rodeo. You asked "Why would this company be any different than any other company in bankruptcy and keep the shareholders in tact"? First off, do you know the difference between trust preferred stock as opposed to reg preferred and common stock? Do you know what trust preferred stock is classified as in bankruptcy Penny? We are not common equity waiting to be wiped out in bankruptcy (as common equity is a majority of the time). We are classified as debt. So, your argument with Cotton earlier insisting he show you where equity is mentioned is quite funny. We are in fact, an unsecured creditor, not equity. You mention bondholders only getting a small percentage of payout and make fun of the fact that we believe CTs may be paid at face value. Why don't you go DD assumption and assignment in bankruptcy. This is how CT's would be paid at full contract as opposed to the less than full recovery senior unsecured creditors received. Also read our prospectus which contains successor obligor clauses. You are right in your statement that bankruptcy law trumps policy/guarantees however the bankruptcy judge and trustees take the conditions of contract law into account when determining what recovery is just, and what obligations will be assumed or assigned upon emerging from bankruptcy. Finally, since you have this play all figured out with minimal DD...why don't you sell for your 100 percent profit? I bought CTs long ago under .05 and am riding free....I don't lose either way. Like I said, this isn't my first rodeo, but thanks so much for your concern.