Lehman Brothers Holdings

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 17 July 2010

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In 2008, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was ranked #97 in Forbes Global 2000 list. But due to US subprime crisis, Lehman Brothers Holdings went bankrupt, and it was only a matter of time before this firm’s business divisions got sold off.
Lehman Brother’s headquarters was located in New York, United States of America. A multi-national firm, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. offered financial products and services.

Brief history
Lehman Brothers Holdings was founded in Montgomery, Alabama in United States of America in 1850. This firm was established by Henry Lehman and he was later joined by his siblings, Emanuel Lehman and Mayer Lehman. Initially, Lehman Brothers conducted a dry-goods store business. This was followed by a business interest in raw cotton trading. It was in 1855 that this firm began to focus their operations on commodities-trading or brokerage business. To counter adverse effects of Great Depression, Lehman Brothers' focus shifted to venture capital.

Products and services
Lehman Brothers was known to offer popular products and services in verticals such as financial services, investment banking, and investment management.

Financials
In 2007, total assets held by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. were worth about $22.490 billion. This firm generated revenues of about $59.003 billion. Operating income of Lehman Brothers Holdings was around $6.013 billion and net income was about $6.7 billion. As of September 15, 2008, market capitalization of Lehman Brothers Holdings was worth nearly $130 million.

Awards and recognition
In 2008, BusinessWeek identified Lehman Brothers Holdings as one of “50 Best-Performing Companies”. Conceive magazine also included this firm in its list of “50 Best Companies”. In 2008, “The Asset” gave “Best Credit Derivatives House in Asia” award to Lehman Brothers. “The Banker” also bestowed upon this firm two awards for “Deals of the Year 2008”.

Current financial crisis
US subprme mortgage crisis led to eventual declaration of Lehman Brother’s bankruptcy status. This firm had huge financial interests in US subprime market and had to face incredible losses owing to subprime crisis. In second fiscal quarter of 2008, Lehman Brothers suffered losses of around $2.8 billion and were forced to sell off assets worth $6 billion.


On 11 September, 2008 Lehman Brother filed for bankruptcy. Following declaration of bankruptcy, Barclays Plc delcared its intention clear to buy Lehman Borthers’ investment banking division. Later, Nomura Holdings also announced its intention to buy Lehman Brothers’ Asia-Pacific franchise.


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