{{short description|American banker (born 1946)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox person | birth_name = Richard Severin Fuld Jr. | name = | image = Richard S. Fuld, Jr. at World Resources Institute forum.jpg | predecessor = Peter G. Peterson | successor = Position Abolished | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1946|04|26}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | employer = | title = | spouse = Kathleen Ann Bailey<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=International directory of business biographies|author1=Schlager, N.|author2=Torrado-Caputo, V.|author3=Mazurkiewicz, M.|author4=Schlager Group|date=2005|volume=2|publisher=St. James Press|isbn=978-1-55862-557-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veIJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/lehman-wives-201004 Vanity Fair: "Lehman's Desperate Housewives" By Vicky Ward] April 2010</ref> | partner = | children = 3 | education = University of Colorado (BS) <br/>New York University (MBA)<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Richard-S-Fuld-Jr_A9P0.html Forbes.com]</ref> }} '''Richard Severin Fuld Jr.''' (born April 26, 1946) is an American banker best known as the final chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of investment bank Lehman Brothers. Fuld held this position from April 1, 1994, after the firm's spinoff from American Express until September 15, 2008.<ref>[http://pdf.secdatabase.com/135/0000950123-94-000682.pdf]</ref> Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 on September 15, 2008,<ref>[http://www.thestreet.com/story/10437261/1/lehman-to-file-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy.html Lehman files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy], ''TheStreet.com'', September 15, 2008</ref> and subsequently announced the sale of major operations to parties including Barclays Bank and Nomura Securities.

Fuld was named in ''Time''<nowiki/>'s "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis" list<ref name="content.time.com">{{Cite magazine|title=25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis - TIME|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1877351,00.html|access-date=2020-10-28|magazine=Time|language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="Time">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877326,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215172353/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877326,00.html|archive-date=February 15, 2009|title=25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis|magazine=Time |access-date=March 28, 2013|date=February 11, 2009}}</ref> and in CNN's "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits of the Collapse".<ref>[https://archive.today/20140227203816/http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/category/culprits-of-the-collapse "Culprits of the Collapse"], ac360.blogs.cnn.com; accessed February 27, 2014.</ref> Fuld was nicknamed "the gorilla" for his intimidating presence.<ref name="reuters.com">{{Cite news|first1=Christian|last1=Plumb|first2=Dan|last2=Wilchins|editor-first1=Ted|editor-last1=Kerr|date=September 14, 2008|title=Lehman CEO Fuld's hubris contributed to meltdown|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1341059120080914}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Fuld was born to Jewish parents, the son of Richard Severin Fuld Sr.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100902161235/http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/02/news/companies/fuld_lehman_book_excerpt.fortune/index.htm#:~:text=Though%20Fuld%20was%20Jewish%2C%20this,Brothers'%20culture%2C%20he%20said.How trader Dick morphed into banker CEO Dick Fuld]</ref><ref>[https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/04/lehman-wives-201004 Lehman's Desperate Housewives]</ref> He is a second cousin of professional baseball player and executive Sam Fuld.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-rays-news-and-notes/1154463 |title=Tampa Bay Rays news and notes |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=February 28, 2011 |access-date=April 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531102016/http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-rays-news-and-notes/1154463 |archive-date=May 31, 2015 }}</ref>

He attended Wilbraham & Monson Academy, where he gained his high school diploma.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Carney|first=John|date=June 4, 2009|title=Dick Fuld's Old Boarding School Builds a Trading Floor Classroom|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/dick-fulds-old-boarding-school-builds-a-trading-floor-classroom-2009-6|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=Business Insider}}</ref>

He received a Bachelor of Science<ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Richard S Fuld Jr, CEO of Lehman Bros Holdings (LEH), Earns $40.1 mil |url=https://www.forbes.com/static/pvp2005/LIRA9P0.html |website=Forbes |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref> in international business in 1969 from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he participated in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program and was president of the school's chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.<ref>{{Cite press release|title=Lehman Brothers CEO To Speak At CU-Boulder Graduate School Of Business Commencement|publisher=University of Colorado Boulder|date=April 26, 2001|url=https://www.colorado.edu/today/2001/04/26/lehman-brothers-ceo-speak-cu-boulder-graduate-school-business-commencement}}</ref> Fuld completed his M.B.A. at New York University's Stern School of Business in 1973.<ref name="bloomberg">{{Cite news|author=Peter Robison|author2=Yalman Onaran|date=September 15, 2008|title=Fuld's Subprime Bets Fueled Profit, Undermined Lehman|publisher=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=home&sid=aiETiKXNbDVE|access-date=September 23, 2008|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118072816/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&refer=home&sid=aiETiKXNbDVE|archive-date=January 18, 2013|quote=Fuld earned a BA from the University of Colorado and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business.}}</ref>

Fuld is a member of Kappa Beta Phi.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=2014 |title=Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street's Post-Crash Recruits |location=London, UK |publisher= John Murray (Publishers), An Hachette UK Company |page=206 |isbn=978-1-47361-161-0}}</ref>

==Career== Fuld's first potential career as an Air Force officer came to an end when he got into a fistfight with an upperclassman cadet commanding officer. He said he had been defending another young cadet who was being taunted by the senior cadet.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4761890.ece | website=Times Online | last=Bawden | first=Tom | title=Bruiser of Wall St Dick Fuld looked after his people, but didn't know when to quit | date=September 16, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917230706/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4761890.ece | archive-date=September 17, 2008 }}</ref> Fuld then began his career with Lehman Brothers in 1969, the year the firm's senior partner Robert Lehman died.<ref>{{Cite news| url =http://topics.wsj.com/person/F/richard-s-fuld/523|title=Richard S. Fuld Jr.|publisher=Wall Street Journal |date = August 31, 2014}}</ref> Fuld started trading commercial paper and developed a reputation as an accomplished fixed income trader.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Uncontrolled Risk|last=Williams|first=Mark|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|date=April 12, 2010|isbn=978-0-07-163829-6|page=26}}</ref>

=== Lehman Brothers === Fuld worked for Lehman for nearly 40 years. During this time, Fuld witnessed and participated in numerous evolutions within the organization, including its merger with Kuhn, Loeb & Co, its acquisition by American Express, its merger with E.F. Hutton and its ultimate spin-off from American Express in 1994, once again as Lehman Brothers. Once public, the new company traded under the stock ticker LEH.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Uncontrolled Risk|last=Williams|first=Mark|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|date=April 12, 2010|isbn=978-0-07-163829-6|page=29}}</ref>

Fuld was the longest-tenured CEO on Wall Street at the time of the 2008 financial crisis.<ref name="reuters.com"/> Fuld had steered Lehman through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, a period where the firm's share price dropped to $12 in 1998.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Uncontrolled Risk|last=Williams|first=Mark|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|date=April 12, 2010|isbn=978-0-07-163829-6|page=85}}</ref> Lehman had a yearly loss of $102&nbsp;million in 1993, but after Fuld became CEO the firm had 14 straight years of profits, including $4.2&nbsp;billion in 2007, although in 2008 it reported a Q2 loss of $2.8&nbsp;billion and filed for bankruptcy later that year.<ref name=NYMag52603>{{cite magazine|last=Fishman|first=Steve|date=November 30, 2008|url=http://nymag.com/news/business/52603/|title=Burning Down His House|work=New York|access-date=January 27, 2026|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20081202003217/http://nymag.com/news/business/52603/|archive-date=December 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Similar to the fall of Barings Bank, this was accomplished by driving up company earnings through excessive leverage and risk.<ref>{{cite book|last=Poitras|first=Geoffrey|date=2002|title=Risk Management, Speculation and Derivative Securities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCEb0VwD8nUC|publisher=Academic Press|page=25|isbn=978-0-12-558822-5|access-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

Fuld had a succession of "number twos" under him, usually titled as president and chief operating officer (COO). T. Christopher Pettit served until November 26, 1996, when he lost a power struggle with his deputies, likely brought about after Pettit had a mistress, which violated Fuld's unwritten rules on marriage and social etiquette.<ref name=VFWard>{{Cite magazine|last=Ward |first=Vicky |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/lehman-wives-201004 |title=Lehman's Desperate Housewives |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=April 2010 |access-date=September 29, 2012}}</ref> This president and COO position would remain vacant until Joseph M. Gregory was appointed president and COO in 2002.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Uncontrolled Risk|last=Williams|first=Mark|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|date=April 12, 2010|isbn=978-0-07-163829-6|page=76}}</ref> Bradley Jack and Gregory were appointed co-COOs in 2002, however Jack was demoted to the Office of the chairman in May 2004 and departed in June 2005 with a severance package of $80&nbsp;million, making Gregory the sole COO and president. Along with chief financial officer (CFO) Erin Callan,<ref>Ward, Vicky (2010). [https://archive.org/details/devilscasinofrie00ward_0/page/162 <!-- quote=Erin Callan Joseph Gregory blonde. --> ''The Devil's Casino''].</ref> Gregory was demoted on June 12, 2008, and replaced by Bart McDade, who would see Lehman through bankruptcy.<ref name=NYMag52603 /><ref name=VFWard />

In 2006, ''Institutional Investor'' magazine named Fuld America's top chief executive in the private sector. That same year in December, Fuld told ''The Wall Street Journal'', "as long as I am alive this firm will never be sold."{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

In March 2008, Fuld appeared in ''Barron's'' list of the 30 best CEOs and was dubbed "Mr. Wall Street".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bleeding Green: The Fall of Fuld|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=5951669&page=1|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Clikeman|first=Paul M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAWcDwAAQBAJ&q=richard+fuld+dubbed+%22Mr.+Wall+Street%22+in+2008&pg=PT266|title=Called to Account: Financial Frauds that Shaped the Accounting Profession|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=978-0-429-83078-5}}</ref>

Overall, Fuld received nearly half a billion dollars in total compensation from 1993 to 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kristof |first=Nicholas D. |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/18/opinion/edkristof.php |title=Nicholas D. Kristof: $17,000 an hour. No success required. |work=International Herald Tribune |date=September 18, 2008 |access-date=April 4, 2011}}</ref> In 2007, he was 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.<ref>[http://www.equilar.com/CEO_Compensation/LEHMAN_BROTHERS_HOLDINGS_INC_Richard_S._Fuld_Jr.php "CEO Compensation for Richard S. Fuld Jr"], Equilar.com</ref> According to ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', Fuld "famously demanded loyalty of everyone around him and demonstrated his own by keeping much of his wealth tied up in the firm", even buying Lehman shares on margin, according to a friend.<ref name=bloomsberg>{{cite news|last=Green|first=Joshua|title=Where Is Dick Fuld Now? Finding Lehman Brothers' Last CEO|work=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=September 12, 2013|url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-12/where-is-dick-fuld-now-finding-lehman-brothers-last-ceo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913014118/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-12/where-is-dick-fuld-now-finding-lehman-brothers-last-ceo|archive-date=September 13, 2013}}</ref>

===Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and aftermath=== {{See also|Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers}} Fuld was initially praised for handling the initial subprime mortgage crisis well, better than any of the other bulge bracket firms, behind Goldman Sachs.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/business/28fuld.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |title=The Survivor |first=Jenny |last=Anderson |date=October 28, 2007}}</ref>

Fuld was said to have underestimated the downturn in the US housing market and its effect on Lehman's mortgage bond underwriting business.<ref name="reuters.com" /> Fuld was already the longest-tenured CEO on Wall Street and kept his job as the subprime mortgage crisis took hold, while CEOs of rivals like Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup were forced to resign.<ref name="reuters.com" /> In addition, Lehman's board of directors, which included retired CEOs like Vodafone's Christopher Gent and IBM's John Akers, were reluctant to challenge Fuld as the firm's share price spiraled lower.<ref name="reuters.com" />

Fuld was criticized for not completing several proposed deals, either a capital injection or a merger, that would have saved Lehman Brothers from bankruptcy. Interested parties had included Warren Buffett<ref>{{cite web |author=Susan Antilla |url=http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100320/EDIT05/303209995/1147/EDIT07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328195520/http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100320/EDIT05/303209995/1147/EDIT07 |archive-date=March 28, 2010 |title=Top 10 lessons from Lehman Brothers fiasco |work=The Journal Gazette |access-date=December 15, 2014 }}</ref> and the Korea Development Bank.<ref>{{cite web|author=Jonathan Kennedy |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/8/dick-bove-lehman-leh-ceo-fuld-hopeless-hostile-takeover-at-20-per-share |title=Dick Bove: Lehman (LEH) CEO Fuld Hopeless, Hostile Takeover At $20 Per Share |work=Business Insider |date=August 22, 2008 |access-date=April 4, 2011}}</ref> Fuld was said to have played a game of brinkmanship, refusing to accept offers that could have rescued the firm because they didn't reflect the value he saw in the bank.<ref name="reuters.com" />

However, ''New York'' magazine had a different view on Fuld's last three months as CEO before the firm's bankruptcy. Hugh "Skip" McGee III, then-head of the Investment Banking Division, had earlier disagreed with COO Joseph M. Gregory's appointment of one of his subordinates, Erin Callan, as CFO. On June 11, 2008, McGee organized a meeting of the firm's senior bankers, who forced Fuld to demote Callan and Gregory. Gregory's replacement as president and COO was Bart McDade. Although Fuld remained CEO in title, it has been said that a management coup had taken place and the person in charge then was McDade.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Ward | first=Vicky |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/lehman-wives-201004 |title=Lehman's Desperate Housewives | magazine=Vanity Fair | date=October 20, 2009 |access-date=April 4, 2011}}</ref> ''New York'' magazine's account also stated that Fuld was desperately searching for a buyer during the summer and even offering to step aside as CEO to facilitate the sale of the firm, being quoted as saying, "We have two priorities, that the Lehman name and brand survive and that as many employees as possible be saved and you'll notice our priority isn't price".<ref>{{cite magazine |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305093025/http://nymag.com/news/business/52603/ |archivedate=2009-03-05 |url=http://nymag.com/news/business/52603/ |title=Burning Down His House |first=Steve |last=Fishman |magazine=New York |date=November 30, 2008}}</ref>

In his 2009 book ''A Colossal Failure Of Common Sense'', Larry McDonald—a senior Lehman Brothers trader in the years leading up to the crash—wrote that Fuld's "smoldering envy" of Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street rivals led him to ignore warnings from Lehman executives about the impending crash and that Fuld insisted the firm's chief risk officer leave the boardroom during key discussions.<ref>{{cite book|last=McDonald|first=Larry|date=2009|title=A Colossal Failure Of Common Sense|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GBgi8xL_oqAC|location=London|publisher=Ebury Press|page=268|isbn=978-0-12-558822-5|access-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

In October 2008, Fuld was among 12 Lehman Brothers executives who received grand jury subpoenas in connection to three criminal investigations led by the United States Attorney's offices in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, as well as the District of New Jersey, related to the alleged securities fraud associated with the collapse of the firm.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6Z--x2KBgEljN43MzpxWI5J_HOwD93SH3P82 |title=Prosecutors subpoena ex-Lehman CEO Richard Fuld |access-date=October 29, 2008 |author=David B. Caruso |date=October 17, 2008 |publisher=Associated Press via Google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031043658/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6Z--x2KBgEljN43MzpxWI5J_HOwD93SH3P82 |archive-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2008/10/17/news/companies/lehman_subpoena/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021054958/http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/17/news/companies/lehman_subpoena/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 21, 2008 |title=Former Lehman Brothers CEO subpoenaed |access-date=October 29, 2008 |author=Emily Anderson |author2=Chuck Hadad |date=October 17, 2008 |publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arDh0Dk0I4bc&refer=home |title=Lehman Executives Including Fuld Subpoenaed, New York Post Says |access-date=October 29, 2008 |author=Joe Sabo |date=October 17, 2008 |publisher=Bloomberg}}</ref>

On October 6, 2008, Fuld testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the causes and effects of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.<ref>[http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2208 Committee Holds Hearing on Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy] Retrieved October 6, 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009061501/http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2208 |date=October 9, 2008 }}</ref><ref>[http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081006125839.pdf Fuld's testimony] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826083809/http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081006125839.pdf |date=August 26, 2009 }} (PDF) Retrieved October 6, 2008.</ref><ref>Bill Berkrot, Reuters [https://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4928RI20081003 "Lehman's Fuld to testify at congressional hearing"] retrieved October 3, 2008.</ref> During the testimony, Fuld was asked if he wondered why Lehman Brothers was the only firm that was allowed to fail, to which he responded: "Until the day they put me in the ground, I will wonder."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-financial-lehman-idUSTRE4954DL20081007|title=Lehman's Fuld: Where was our U.S. bailout?|last=Fitzgibbons|first=Patrick|date=7 October 2008|website=reuters.com |access-date=28 January 2017}}</ref>

The Report of Anton R. Valukas, the official court-mandated investigation into the Lehman bankruptcy, concluded that "While the business decisions that brought about the crisis were largely within the realm of acceptable business judgement, the actions to manipulate financial statements do give rise to 'colorable claims', especially against the CEO and CFOs but also against the auditors. In the opinion of the Examiner, 'colorable' is generally meant to mean that sufficient evidence exists to support legal action and possible recovery of losses." "Regarding liquidity, throughout 2008 Lehman made false claims of having billions of dollars in available cash to repay counterparties when in reality, significant portions of the reported amounts were in fact encumbered or otherwise unavailable for use. On September 12, 2008, two days after reporting $41 billion in liquidity, true available funds totaled only $2 billion." Lehman filed for bankruptcy on September 15.

===After Lehman Brothers=== On November 10, 2008, Fuld transferred his Florida mansion to his wife Kathleen for $100. They had bought it four years earlier for $13.75&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE50P04A20090126 |title=Lehman's Fuld sold Florida mansion to wife for $100|publisher=Reuters |date=January 26, 2009|access-date=April 4, 2011 |first=Yinka |last=Adegoke}}</ref>

In March 2009, Fuld sent out an email stating that he had joined Matrix Advisors in New York City.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/04/03/lehman-brothers-dick-fuld-has-a-new-gig/ |work=The Wall Street Journal|title=Lehman Brothers' Dick Fuld Has a New Gig |date=April 3, 2009 |access-date=June 27, 2010}}</ref>

In May 2010, Fuld was registered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as employed by Legend Securities, a securities brokerage and investment banking firm in New York.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thestreet.com/story/10757156/dick-fuld-re-emerges-at-legend-securities.html |work=The Street |title=Dick Fuld Re-Emerges at Legend Securities |date=May 14, 2009 |access-date=July 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918051835/http://www.thestreet.com/story/10757156/dick-fuld-re-emerges-at-legend-securities.html |archive-date=September 18, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thefinancialinvestigator.com/?p=64 |work=The Financial Investigator |title=Dick Fuld's New Friends |date=June 8, 2009 |access-date=July 7, 2010 |archive-date=June 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611062500/http://www.thefinancialinvestigator.com/?p=64 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fuld left the firm in early 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2012/02/24/fuld-im-not-built-for-street-life/ |title=Fuld: I'm not built for Street life |work=New York Post |date=February 24, 2012}}</ref>

By July 2015, Matrix Advisors, led by Fuld, had grown to about two dozen employees. The firm focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises, advising clients on a range of matters, from opening product distribution channels to completing mergers and acquisitions, and sourcing private equity and venture capital funding.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inside Ex–Lehman Boss Dick Fuld's New Firm, Matrix Advisors|url=http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/3470974/banking-and-capital-markets-banking/inside-exlehman-boss-dick-fulds-new-firm-matrix-advisors.html|access-date=2015-08-10|date=July 20, 2015|first=Jess|last=Delaney|publisher=Institutional Investor}}</ref> By 2016, Matrix Private Capital LLC had $100 million in assets under management from 18 families. By November 2017, the company had expanded by opening offices in Los Angeles and Palm Beach.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.verdict.co.uk/private-banker-international/uncategorized/richard-fuld-lehman-wealth/|title=Richard Fuld building career in wealth management 10 years after Lehman|date=11 September 2018|website=Private Banker International|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-05|archive-date=January 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106104308/https://www.verdict.co.uk/private-banker-international/uncategorized/richard-fuld-lehman-wealth/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Also in mid-2015, Fuld put up for auction his 71-acre estate in Sun Valley, Idaho. The property was estimated to sell for $30 to $50 million in August 2015, but sold at an auction in September for just over $20 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ex-Lehman CEO Richard Fuld to auction off Idaho estate|url=https://money.cnn.com/2015/07/08/news/lehman-brothers-ceo-richard-fuld-idaho-estate/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711022013/http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/08/news/lehman-brothers-ceo-richard-fuld-idaho-estate/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 11, 2015|publisher=CNNMoney|access-date=2015-08-10|first=Ahiza|last=Garcia|date=July 8, 2015 }}</ref>

As of 2018, Fuld remained critical of the government's decision not to bail out Lehman despite bailing out other financial firms in distress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/branded-a-villain-lehmans-dick-fuld-chases-redemption-1536238802|title=Branded a Villain, Lehman's Dick Fuld Chases Redemption|last=Justin Baer and Gregory Zuckerman|date=6 September 2018|website=Wall Street Journal|access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref> Fuld reserves his most pointed criticisms for his longtime rival, Henry Paulson, who ran Goldman Sachs Group Inc. before heading the U.S. Treasury during the 2008 financial crisis. By 2018, almost all claims brought against Lehman since the bankruptcy had been resolved (with $4.1 billion remaining from $1.2 trillion).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/branded-a-villain-lehmans-dick-fuld-chases-redemption-1536238802|title=Branded a Villain, Lehman's Dick Fuld Chases Redemption|last=Justin Baer and Gregory Zuckerman|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=September 6, 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

In a 2018 book on the subject, ''The Fed and Lehman Brothers: Setting the Record Straight on a Financial Disaster'', economist Laurence M. Ball argues that Lehman had ample collateral to justify a U.S. government loan that would have staved off bankruptcy, rejecting statements from former officials that such a bailout would have been illegal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fed and Lehman Brothers: setting the record straight on a financial disaster |last=Ball |first=Laurence M. |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-108-37286-2 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom}}</ref> The Report of Anton R. Valukas, however, established that Lehman's assets were shrouded in uncertainty around the time of the bankruptcy, due to extensive balance sheet manipulation and accounting fraud.

==Accolades and directorships== In 2006, Fuld was named No. 1 CEO in the Brokers & Asset Managers category, by ''Institutional Investor'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite news| url =http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article.aspx?articleID=1233833&HideRelated=1&SearchResult=1#.U_dFNPldXm4| title =Best CEO's Expanded Table| publisher =Institutional Investor| date =January 22, 2007| archive-date =October 9, 2016| access-date =August 22, 2014| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161009115849/http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article.aspx?articleID=1233833&HideRelated=1&SearchResult=1#.U_dFNPldXm4| url-status =dead}}</ref> In 2007 he received a $22&nbsp;million bonus.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1341059120080914 Lehman CEO Fuld's hubris contributed to meltdown], Reuters, September 14, 2008</ref>

In October 2008, CNN named Fuld as one of the "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits of the Collapse" regarding the 2008 financial crisis; he was placed 9th on the list.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/10/culprits-of-the-collapse-10-richard-fuld/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012122059/http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/10/culprits-of-the-collapse-10-richard-fuld/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2008 |title=Culprits of the Collapse |publisher=CNN |date=October 10, 2008 |access-date=April 4, 2011}}</ref>

In December 2008, Fuld was given the "Lex Overpaid CEO" award of the ''Financial Times'' for having received $34&nbsp;million in 2007 and $40.5&nbsp;million in 2006, the last two years before his bank's failure.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Overpaid CEO award |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6ee9e870-cf8b-11dd-abf9-000077b07658 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211231235/https://www.ft.com/content/6ee9e870-cf8b-11dd-abf9-000077b07658 |archive-date=December 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |journal=Financial Times |date=December 22, 2008 |page=12 |access-date=October 8, 2025 }}</ref> The total compensation he received from 2000 until the bankruptcy was $484 million <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5965360&page=1 |title=Lehman Brothers Boss Defends $484 Million in Salary, Bonus |publisher=ABC |date=October 6, 2008 |access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref>

Fuld was named in ''Time''<nowiki/>'s "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis" list.<ref name="content.time.com"/><ref name="Time"/>

Fuld at one time served on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a position he ceased holding shortly before the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. He is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and the Business Council. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was also on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation but was removed from the Board following the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080422192813/http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2008/04/16/rishard-fuld-lehman-markets-face-cx_md_0415autofacescan03.html Lehman Chief: Subprime's End-Near; Pain-Not Over], ''Forbes'', April 16, 2008</ref>

==In popular culture== *Richard Fuld was portrayed by Corey Johnson in the 2009 BBC film ''The Last Days of Lehman Brothers''. *Richard Fuld was portrayed by James Woods in the 2011 HBO film ''Too Big To Fail''. *Fuld also appeared in the 2010 documentary ''Inside Job''.<ref name="ebertsuntimes">{{cite news | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101013/REVIEWS/101019990 | title=Inside Job | work=Chicago Sun-Times | date=October 13, 2010 | access-date=October 21, 2011 | author=Ebert, Roger}}</ref> *In October 2011, a theatrical film titled ''Margin Call'' was released, depicting a bank loosely based on Lehman Brothers. Jeremy Irons portrayed "John Tuld", a character inspired, in part, by Fuld.<ref>{{Cite magazine|first=David|last=Denby|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114051939/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2011/10/31/111031crci_cinema_denby?currentPage=all|archivedate=2012-01-14|url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2011/10/31/111031crci_cinema_denby?currentPage=all |title=All That Glitters |magazine=The New Yorker|date=October 31, 2011|access-date=2025-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/margin-call-a-financial-crisis-film-thats-on-the-money/247116 |title='Margin Call': A Financial-Crisis Film That's on the Money |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310033403/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/margin-call-a-financial-crisis-film-thats-on-the-money/247116 |archivedate=2012-03-10 |first=Christopher |last=Orr |magazine=The Atlantic |date=October 31, 2011 |access-date=2025-05-27}}</ref> *Fuld is featured in Mary Kathryn Nagle's play ''Manahatta'', which juxtaposes the financial crisis collapse of Lehman Brothers with the displacement of the Lenape people from New York in the 17th century.

==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/F-L/Fuld-Richard-S-Jr-1946.html Reference for Business – Richard S. Fuld Jr.] * [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/richard_s_fuld_jr/index.html?scp=1&sq=richard%20fuld&st=cse Times Topics]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuld, Richard S. Jr.}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:American chief executives of financial services companies Category:American corporate directors Category:American financial traders Category:20th-century American Jews Category:Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:American chief operating officers Category:Lehman Brothers people Category:New York University Stern School of Business alumni Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni Category:Wilbraham & Monson Academy alumni Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Great Recession