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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.

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Inside Dick Fuld's Bunker

Home transfers, apartment sales, art liquidations, dragged-out tax payments. William Cohan on life in exile for the disgraced former CEO of Lehman Brothers.

William D. Cohan | Published Dec 02, 2009

The Man Who Schooled Wall Street

M&A legend Bruce Wasserstein, who died Wednesday at 61, showed Wall Street that business could be done profitably and relatively risk-free—without bringing down the system or impoverishing taxpayers.

William D. Cohan | Published Oct 14, 2009

The Unnecessary Meltdown

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.

William D. Cohan | Published Sep 14, 2009

The Holes in Obama's Wall Street Plan

The president unveiled his plan to regulate the financial industry on Wednesday, a blueprint full of lots of a good individual ideas. But, William D. Cohan says, it completely misses the consistent thread that prompted the economic collapse: Wall Street's lack of accountability in the way it rewards itself.

William D. Cohan | Published Jun 16, 2009

Bear Stearns' Trail of 'Lies'

An unearthed filing reveals the prosecutors' playbook against the two $1.5 billion hedge fund managers whose indictment helped expose the mortgage crisis.

William D. Cohan | Published May 22, 2009

Bankers to Feel Sorry For

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.

William D. Cohan | Published Mar 27, 2009

Top 5 Phony Scapegoats

Angry Americans want people to blame for the financial mess—but c’mon. Are AIG and John Thain really the reason for your retirement losses? William D. Cohan on the phenomenon of misplaced rage.

William D. Cohan | Published Mar 18, 2009

How Pot Helped Destroy Bear Stearns

In his new book House of Cards, William D. Cohan gets inside the company’s spectacular collapse—and details how a shocking newspaper story about the CEO’s pot-smoking triggered chaos inside the company. Read an excerpt.

William D. Cohan | Published Mar 06, 2009

Wall Street's New Bonus Outrage

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?

William D. Cohan | Published Mar 05, 2009

Citigroup's Last Best Hope

Finding candidates for the Citigroup board shouldn’t be hard—it’s the ultimate fixer-upper. Meet six strong contenders to help Dick Parsons clean up the mess.

William D. Cohan | Published Mar 02, 2009

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