Lehman Brothers: The Weekend No Rescue Came | Case No. 3

On Saturday night, September 13, 2008, a deal to save Lehman Brothers seemed done. By Monday, Lehman had filed what the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) calls the largest bankruptcy in American history. We count down the final weekend and open the files that explain it: leverage above 30-to-1, and "Repo 105," the quarter-end transactions that a court-appointed bankruptcy examiner found reduced Lehman's reported balance sheet by about $50 billion at the end of May 2008. Everything is sourced from the FCIC report, the bankruptcy examiner's report and FCIC hearing testimony. DISCLAIMER: This documentary is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not investing, financial, legal, or tax advice. Nothing here is an offer to buy or sell securities. Allegations and examiner findings are not court verdicts. The bankruptcy examiner's report is an investigation for the bankruptcy court, not a court ruling. We are not aware of any criminal charges against Richard Fuld, and he told the examiner he had no knowledge of Lehman's Repo 105 accounting. Inclusion in this video does not mean any person committed wrongdoing beyond what courts or regulators found. Visuals are AI-generated illustrations, some photorealistic, plus two archive photographs of the U.S. Treasury Building (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress) and pages from public records, credited in the description. The AI-generated visuals are not real footage or photographs of the events or places described. This video does not use AI-generated depictions of real people. Charts and diagrams are our own, built from the public records below. Narration is AI-generated (synthetic voice). Views expressed are our own and do not represent any court, agency, or company mentioned. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Sunday morning: the deal that died 1:06 Friday, Sept 12 1:40 File #1: Thirty to one 2:47 File #2: Repo 105 5:48 Saturday, Sept 13 6:27 File #3: The rescue that came before 6:58 Sunday, Sept 14 8:46 Monday, Sept 15 9:41 Three parties 11:45 Your verdict All cases:    • Case Files: All Cases   📚 Sources FCIC Final Report, Ch. 18 "September 2008: The Bankruptcy of Lehman": https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/... FCIC Final Report, p. 335 (the weekend, Barclays, FSA): https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/... FCIC Final Report, pp. xix–xx, 325, 331, 339–340 (UNT Digital Library OCR pages): https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/... FCIC Conclusions: https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/... FCIC Final Report (full): https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/... FCIC Official Transcript, Sept 2, 2010 (Bernanke testimony): https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/... Examiner's Report, In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.), Report of Anton R. Valukas, Examiner, Vol. 3 (Repo 105), March 11, 2010 (short excerpts, credited): https://web.stanford.edu/~jbulow/Lehm... U.S. Treasury Department Building photos: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/2011631001/ and https://www.loc.gov/item/2011635063/ (no known restrictions on publication) 🎬 Credits Narration: AI-generated (synthetic voice). Visuals: AI-generated illustrations, some photorealistic, our own charts, pages from the public records listed under Sources and from 12 U.S.C. § 343 (United States Code), and two Library of Congress photos of the U.S. Treasury Building. No music. #LehmanBrothers #2008FinancialCrisis #Repo105 #FinancialHistory #ShadyAccounts 🔎 Case Board: who was most to blame for Lehman's collapse: the executives, the regulators, or the officials who chose not to step in that weekend? And should Lehman have been saved at all? Tell us in the comments.