The Unnecessary Meltdown
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
A year ago Monday, Wall Street imploded. But as William Cohan reports, a little-known meeting two years earlier started the runaway snowball-and also could have prevented the catastrophe.
Bankers to Feel Sorry For
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
Lost amid the outrage over AIG bonuses are the stories of midlevel employees who were just doing their jobs. William D. Cohan talks to Alex Manos, who worked at Bear Stearns for 22 years.
Will the new White House bank plan work? The Daily Beast asked financier Ace Greenberg, real-estate mogul Mort Zuckerman, the man who saved Sweden, and others to weigh in on the strategy.
Wall Street's New Bonus Outrage
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
The disclosure that near-bankrupt Merrill dished out a staggering $209 million for 10 bankers takes this scandal beyond the absurd-and possibly into criminal territory. Will the Feds prosecute?
The Highest Paid Man on Wall Street
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
While just about every top banking executive declined a bonus this year, a relatively unknown former Lehman Brothers snagged himself a $25 million a year contract. Some are crying foul.
Paulson's Puzzling New Strategy: Save the Rainforests
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
Given the credit crisis and the country's much-depleted treasury these days, are debt-for-nature agreements really the best use of Paulson's time and our cash?
How Much Will Goldman Sachs Give Out In Bonuses?
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
Despite the bailout, there is still an army of overpaid troops out there.
Does Goldman Sachs Really Rule the World?
William D. Cohan, a former senior-level M&A banker on Wall Street, is the author of The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co, and his new best seller House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
Some myths refuse to die-like the one brewing now about Goldman Sachs pulling strings in the market meltdown and bailout.
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is a professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
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