The Lehman Trilogy, page 55
but nevertheless, okay, I accept it
even if—in the end—I’m losing out.’
This is what’s new, gentlemen.
This is marketing.
To tell everyone that whoever buys is gaining
and whoever sells is losing.
Marketing is
to tell everyone that you’re winning if you buy
if you buy you triumph
if you buy you’ve beaten me
if you buy you’re number one.
Marketing, gentlemen
is to get folks used to the idea
that only those who buy win the war
and since we’re all at war
whoever buys survives.”
The Lehman Brothers partners
all sitting
in dark suits
don’t miss a word
they write
nod
smile:
the Lehman Brothers partners
around the glass table,
they like this idea.
“If we can get it into the heads
of the whole world
that buying is winning
then buying will mean living.
Because human beings, gentlemen
don’t live to lose.
Their instinct is to win.
Existence means winning.
If we can get it into the heads
of the whole world
that living means buying
we, gentlemen, will smash
that last old barrier which is called need.
Our objective
is a planet Earth
in which you no longer buy through need
but you buy through instinct.
Or if you prefer—to conclude—through identity.
Only then will banks
—and Lehman Brothers with them—
become immortal.”
Extraordinary.
Bobbie, at the head of the table, smiles.
And when Bobbie smiles it’s an event in itself.
For when his grandfather Emanuel and his brothers
founded the bank
they dreamed at most of a cotton empire
and when his father, Philip,
launched it on the stock market
he dreamed of trains and kerosene
but now
now the plan is quite something else:
here, folks, we are talking about eternal life
about giving a meaning to the world
if you know what I mean:
“I have a dream
yes
I have a dream”
and the dream is
nothing less
than immortality.
While the whole world
in these 1960s
is terrified
of some new nuclear bomb,
we Lehmans take a run-up
jump the ditch
and voilà
not only are we everywhere
but from now on
we will be
everlasting.
Lehman Brothers is betting on it:
“Votes in favor”
unanimous
“Votes in favor”
all sitting
“Votes in favor”
in dark suits
“Votes in favor”
around the glass table.
And onward then with the new marketing:
from now on
the watchword
is: play-act
yes, play-acting
pretend
that anyone can buy anything
that luxury is for everyone
that poor people don’t exist
that nothing has a price
and, if it has, it’s affordable
play-act
play-act
tell everyone
that every sale is a giveaway:
offers
bargains
discounts
installments
what’s important is to sell
what’s important is to fill the coffers
what’s important is that people buy
and if Standard & Poor’s
keeps the thermometer fixed under our arm
we too have a thermometer
—you bet—
and it’s supermarkets.
Superstores.
Megastores.
Billboards as big as houses.
And a torrent of money that flows every day
like a sea
a gigantic
boundless
ocean
of Coca-Cola flags
red
red
red as those of Russia
red as those of China
red as the envy
that consumes
—you bet—
all of that part of the planet
under the hammer
and under the sickle
that it cannot buy
“but I have a dream
yes
I have a dream”
and it is
sooner or later
to sell to you
sell
sell
sell
to everyone
wagonloads
home delivery
without preference
without distinction
whites and blacks
no longer any difference:
we are all the same
since we all have money
sell
sell
sell
with no firsts and no lasts
with no positions
men and women
no longer any difference:
we are all the same
for we all have a bank account.
“I have a dream
yes
I have a dream”
and it is that all money
from henceforth
is the same
under the sun
and
more than under the sun
for NASA has asked us for money
to send a man to the moon:
“I have a dream
yes
I have a dream”
and it is to make money up there too.
Banker’s euphoria.
What a great job to be involved in immortal matters.
Bobbie smiles:
Lehman Brothers forever.
Then he bites his lip.
Lehman Brothers forever.
Bobbie has gray hair.
Lehman Brothers forever.
But
after me
who?
25
Egel haZahav
It’s true
that not a day passes
without one of our soldiers
getting killed in Vietnam
and that every day
their caskets are shown
on TV.
It’s true
that John Fitzgerald Kennedy
was killed
down in Dallas
like that
all of a sudden
in front of everyone
before the eyes of the world
before the eyes of America.
And it’s true
that just two weeks later
cousin Herbert
he too
died suddenly
of a heart attack.
But the fact is
that all this death around Bobbie Lehman
no longer has any effect.
Instead, it makes him smile.
More and more.
For Bobbie in the end is convinced:
now he is sure
he is quite certain
he cannot die.
The patriarchs died, yes
but at the age of 500, 600, 700
if not more
which is like saying
they too
were immortal
like the bank;
and it is right
so right
since HaShem cannot allow
anyone who leads a Chosen People
to die.
Is this why
Bobbie’s fingers
no longer quiver?
Is this why
he no longer bites his lip?
And why his wondrous tongue
no longer sticks to the roof of his mouth?
Bobbie smiles, he smiles.
He smiles because he is 72.
What is 72 compared to 500, 600, 700?
You are young, Bobbie Lehman.
You’re a kid.
And like all youngsters
you can rebel, since it’s fashionable
you can do it, perhaps it’s even your duty:
revolution?
Headlong!
You, Bobbie, can turn the world around
you can shake it up
tear it out of the system
snatch it
from that damned sclerotic army of old men.
Morgan Stanley is a bank of dodos.
Goldman Sachs is an open-air hospice.
Lehman Brothers no.
Lehman Brothers is a college for kids:
the youngest
is called Bobbie.
It doesn’t matter if the partners
over Monday luncheon
turn up their nose:
isn’t the president the boss?
So open the doors to youngsters
they’ll only make us money
so
youngsters
youngsters to work
youngsters to recruit
as many youngsters as I can.
This kid
for example
who has just walked into his office
with cheeks like two melons
is barely thirty.
Those of the same age talk the same language.
He looks straight, even too straight, into the eyes:
he’s an arrogant buddy,
a tough one.
After careful study, his face doesn’t look so new.
But what could Bobbie have in common with a Hungarian?
And one brought up in Soho too?
Maybe . . .
But who remembers? It’s so long ago.
In any event.
Big stomach
unkempt beard
the man is a lumberjack dressed as a banker:
this one beats hell out of the world
with his ax strokes.
“The surname, yes, it’s Hungarian.
We’re not cowards
like those who change their names.
After all, you Lehmans were German Jews, I know.
And if you were Germans
then I can be Hungarian.
Or aren’t you so fond of them?
If you’re not, just tell me
and I’ll go.
Here in the bank you might have plenty of money
but I have plenty of ideas
and I’m not taking them to any place I don’t like.”
“You’re a straight talker, Mr. Glucksman.”
“People say you know something about horses;
so you’ll know better than me
that the best horses are those that kick.”
“And is this horse I have before me
looking for a stable?”
“A stable, maybe. A cage, no thanks.”
“It was I who came looking for you, Mr. Glucksman
since your reputation goes before you:
it seems you’re the best trader in America.”
“Do you have a trading division here?”
“Not yet. But I’d like to open one
and perhaps I’d like you to run it.”
“I reckon you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Look, those like me
they don’t push a pen
they don’t do gala dinners
and they don’t wear cuff links.”
“Then tell me exactly, so I understand:
what do you traders do?”
“We’re in front of computers, Mr. Lehman
with a telephone in our ear
and another telephone in the other.
We buy and we sell shares
at the same time
on ten stock markets around the world
not just on Wall Street;
we buy where the price is right
and we sell again where there’s a profit;
we move bonds and shares
several hundreds a day;
and often
we’re more than willing
to arrange it so a security that’s crap
garbage
looks really strong
and when it’s worth double
we pass it on to whoever’s fool enough.
You run a smart bank
where everything’s shiny
there’s a load of money and plenty of elegance:
but we do the job,
that dirty job,
where all that matters is money
and cunning.
A trading division
can earn you millions a day
but don’t get any idea about putting us out on show:
we’re backroom boys
and we’re not into your smart ways.”
“You’ve persuaded me, Mr. Glucksman:
when do you think we could start?”
“To build a division out of nothing
I’d need a couple of months.
I will choose the traders
all sharp guys.
And I repeat:
we can’t stay here in all this plush.
Give us some other office, a place that will be our own.”
“It’s ready, if you wish
five minutes from here
in Water Street.
You want to see it straightaway?”
The board of partners
was not of the same view.
Not because it didn’t like the Hungarian kid:
they hadn’t even seen him
because on the day they were due to meet
the lumberjack had another appointment.
The fact is that the board
—all sitting around the glass table—
would prefer a rather different profile
a more respectable curriculum
someone young, by all means
but who gives us
a greater
shall we say
a greater
feeling of confidence . . .
Paul Mazur, senior partner
Bobbie’s adviser
—who knew his father too—
would prefer for example
that young man from Nebraska
a certain Peterson
(apparently Swedish, though some say Greek)
who is doing well
at the highest levels:
sophisticated
reserved
well turned out
and is kept by everyone always close at hand . . .
“By everyone who?” Bobbie retorts.
“Our bank colleagues and competitors.”
“In other words, a band of dodos and corpses.”
Well done, Bobbie!
Morgan Stanley is a bank of dodos.
Goldman Sachs is an open-air hospice.
Lehman Brothers no.
Lehman Brothers will have a trading division
a branch in Water Street
Hungarian domain
far away from plush
far away from cuff links:
where there’s quite another atmosphere
which when Paul Mazur
senior partner
steps inside
with Bobbie
old Paul almost faints to the ground:
“What’s the meaning of this hellhole, Bobbie?”
But Bobbie doesn’t answer, no:
Bobbie smiles.
Instead: he actually smiles.
He takes Mazur by the arm
and hauls him inside
for a guided tour inside the abyss:
rooms as large as hangars
wood and plastic tables
as long as grocery counters
and lamps lightbulbs
computer screens
next to each other
separated only by packs of donuts
the remains of Chinese takeouts
chaotic electronic whiteboards
baseball bats
boxing gloves
kids everywhere
in shirtsleeves
laughing, running
shouting loudly
waving madly
and on the ground
on the floor
bits of papers
piled up like leaves
Coca-Cola cans
ashtrays of smoldering cigarettes.
Paul Mazur
who is getting on for 80
has been talking to Bobbie nonstop:
terrified, he has been lecturing him the whole time.
And if it weren’t for the fact they both have gray hair,
they might seem like a grandfather
with a naughty young boy.
Mazur carries on with the same old tune.
Bobbie nods smiling:
in fact he understands almost nothing,
for in this mad hellhole of numbers and letters
Paul’s jeremiad is almost impossible to hear:
687.£.56.856.845%.37573%4975.9348.6974.58G.658326.475326745.3 7568$97.6905.4895%7647.58637.463276%765.8766590599.75i7.587.465345.4 “This Bedlam, Bobbie, whatever it means, I disapprove of it as a matter of principle.” 65.56%.67.770083.2211.8039.21.9071$.8756543 4.t22.132.576.889775.643.4£32.544.456.746.584.3586.657.48.3975. 8432.65o73 “The tree of modern life doesn’t necessarily produce edible fruits, Bobbie, as you well know.” 653.7.7654.7643.8769.76543$.6532. 579.547964.76436.87%.78.90$.98 6.875.90.45%.T34.SH78.lk2t. r47q3s2q96t5.y7fm8.3s4b.65$8.3720.9564.375.709.iy43.6583.280.9567. “I have always held banking practice in high esteem, not like what you are showing me here.” 483.658.9.789.SH5$.7£.32.78956.43.5.8712358.6$1.3892.5734.5684.73.658.3258.63.8.9563489.56894.3658.43656.43956.895.6y8.34.6$58.93426.5.535235.45.39.35.5. “Can you explain the ultimate reason for this delirium, Bobbie, or do I have to work it out for myself?” 543.2434.876.895.835355.3.7872r.42.%7 783.3.765.9870 87g3502.175.9032.75986.328.57032.9900.65.45%.75 09 “Your father, Philip, agreed with me about certain basic values.” 832. 65089386.3$29856.2308.95602.8635.08923.%596.98.764.66542.31. 0.8965.86598$.425.7 9650s.d236r.26590.4657.23547.65634.97290.5 7956.2395.70936.589.37209.563295.703Q286.59.82315.3096. 347908%6.7340.9.8756.7865.93 “Lehman Brothers moreover has a history and a name to defend.” 46 5372.6578.44.9$040.675.4%38.248 9053.2876.4783.254$3.543245.5687.98.654.21.32235.465£6y.89.895. 46.5.42. 55897.98.8753.%899.Sh%.76 “I recall how I once read a most enlightening letter from your grandfather in this respect.” 34.55.87.”69.8. 69.89.8.4$3.5.43.1.2.544786.98’.03.7.49.82.3.£70.4.83.20957.906. N34.57.09.3.457093.476.j0 93.47.60.93475.73.4.9.05.634 “Bobbie, are you listening to me?” 8654.89.35.67.8.43.5.78.3.24532458.73.2.$69.587.054684.59658.73.24.3651.23.562.4763.4.56.4355.76f85.49.657.32.6. 45.6.3.72153.1247.65 “Who is running all this? Because I hope it isn’t the mayhem it appears to be.” 7845.67.8.9874.32.6.7.875.G53.&5%56 48.56.78.47.6.95.88.8.00.5.43648.32.658.30.53.8.085690328493265 46276fg.435621987490213647823 123.5987.43096.843568.6437.76% .876$s315 “I believe that, as a senior partner, I’m entitled to a proper explanation.” 64832175863.4832.7095.76.19.83265.9832.418.95643 “Without taking into account: how much is this madness costing us?” 86 8834411.1753.331.1.122.68.94478.377.’3.146.8905.48.7’.06.87.’.08.540.976.549.764.36.58.94362.5743.856.328.75.647836534659865164385 689455678 “I want to know how all this is in keeping with some minimal degree of public order.” 756&.54335$.45.76$.%6.76%.76$.77.34.653.5425. 890587.5678.9054.76 5.873.572.35.78.32.65.98126.3.58.94.36.8.43. 6578.32.5.14.62.56.3.45.21.4.762315874369875409764986871346 123598743096843568643742653521873463249680942375687432 54351256342ks3158569032849326546276fgmf “If this is how you see things, I just cannot agree, Bobbie!” 78.23.1,8643,65329.76556.483 2175.8634.832.7095.7619.8325.64.83.21.7.58634.832.70.9576.198. 32.659.83241.895.64389hwv658943.6.5.84.65486.8753.75.7753.8765 3l77642.6530.97.849 “I notice a feverish telephone activity, but I fear it is entirely empty.” 50.76.9824.3657.3254.725.984632.05704.3967.09.5.48.79065.87.0’8.6549.67348.975.46214.35623483. 658.9.789.SH5$. 7£.32.78956.43.5.8712358.6$1.3892.5734.5684.73.658.3258.63.8.9563 489.56894.3658.43656.43 956.895.6y8.34.6$58.93426.5.535235.45.39.35.5. “This is the first time in many years that I find myself in complete disagreement with your view of the facts.” 543.2434.876.895.835355.3.78 72r.42.%7783.3.765.9870 87g3502.175.9032.75986.328.57032.9900. 65.45%.7509 “We’re getting old, Bobbie, and old age sometimes gives people an exaggerated belief in the new, if you know what I mean.” 832.65.8764,089386.3$29856.230.875.64$.8.8.95602.8635. 08923.%596.9 8.764.66542.31.0.8965.86598$.425.79650s.d236r.26590.4657. 23547.65634.97290.57956.2395.70 936.589.37209.563295.703Q286.5 9.82315.3096.57.90.347908%6.7340.9.8756687.£.56.856.845%.3757 3%4975. 9348.6974.58G.658326.475326745.37568$97.6905.4895%7 647.58637.463276%765.8766590599.75i7.587.465 345.4 “Moreover, as old men, we cannot place our trust in models that send future generations astray, I’m sure you understand.” 65.56%.67.770083.22112.1432.221.80 39.21.9071$.87565434.t22.132 576.889775.643.4£32.544.6568.7483. 456.746.584.3586.657.48.3975.8432.65o73 “The world is too diverse to have a single global market: it runs the risk of being the apotheosis of inequality.” 65,6654.7689$.3.764.76436.87%.78.90$.98.635846385. 738657384.478365738.78346576328.95 987549.46725466.875. 90.45%.T34.SH78.lk2t.r47q3s2q96t5.y7fm8.3s4b.65$8.3720.9564. 375.709.iy43.6583.280.9567. “It’s just possible the stock market might go adrift, and politics too, and we cannot and must not go along with it.” 483.658. 9.789.SH5$.7£.32.78956.43.5.8712358.6$1.3892.5734.5684. 73.658.3258.63.8.9563 489.56894.36.87454.487445.58. “What difference is there between what I see here and a lunatic asylum?” 46 5372.6578.44.9$040.675.4%38.2489053.2876.4783.254$3.543245. 5687.98.654.21.32235.465£6y.89.895.46.5.42.55897.98.8753.%899. Sh%.76 “Even supposing there’s money in it, I don’t know whether everything that makes money is to be automatically approved of, Bobbie.” 34.5.76580.5.87.6998’.03.7.49.82.3.£.8.69.89.8.4$3.5.43.1.2.544786. 70.4.83.20957.906.N34.57.09.3.457093.476.j093.47.60.93475.73. 4.9.05.634 “There’s an aggressive element in finance today, and I have no intention of sinking to that level.” 8654.89.35.67.8.43.5.78.3.24532 458.73.2.$69. 587.054684.59658.73.24.3651.23.562.4763.4.56.4355. 76f85.49.657.32.6.45.6.3.72153.1247.65 “Are the people I see graduates or have they been picked up from the street?” 7845.67.8.9874.3.7654. 8643.3245.76490.$6.8642.6.7.875.G53.&5%5648.56.78.47.6.95.88. 8.00.5.43648.32.658.30.53.8.08569032849326546276fg.435621987 490213647823123.5987.43096.843568.6437.76%.876$s315 “And to think that Wall Street has also been the glory of our country’s history.” 64832175863.4832.7095.76.19.83265.9832.418.95643 “You appear surprisingly calm.” 868834411.1753.331.1.122.68.94478.377.’3.146. 8905.48.7’.06.87.’.08.540.976.549.764.36.58.94362.5 743.856.328. 75.647836534659865164385689455678 “It was you yourself who taught me that not all contemporary art is to be regarded as enlightened.” 756&. 54335$763.790.64.45.76$.%6.76%.76$.77.34.653.5425.89058 7.5678. 9054.76.3.58.94.36.8.43.6.578.32.5.14.62.56.3.45.21.4.762315874.36 987540.976498.687134.612355.873.572.35.78.32.65.981269.874309 684356864374.2653521873463.249680.942375.687432.543.512.563 42ks3158 569032849326546276f “Squeezing the juice from a lemon, dear Bobbie, cannot provide a job forever: the lemon finishes, and you squeeze the rind rather than the pulp.” 78.23.15.6524.8764.6543l.4247. 42218.6532-6.483.2175.8634.832.7095.7619.8325.64.83.21.7.58634. 832.70.9576.198.32.659.83241.895.64389hwv658943.6.5.84.65486. 8753.750.97.849 “No doubt the enthusiasm that I see is a reflection of the world in which we live.” 50.76.9824.3657.3254.725.984632.05704. 3967.09.5.48.79065.87.0’8.6549.67348.975.46214.35623483.658.9. 789.SH5$.7£.32.78956.43.5.8712358.6$1.3892.5734.5684.7687.£.56. 856.845%.37573%4975.9348.6974.58G.658326.475326745.37568$97. 6905.4895%7647.58637.463276%765.8766590599.75i7.587.465345. 4,76 “Have you brought me here to excite me or to shock me? I don’t understand, honestly.” 764.654 2.65.56%.67.770083.22112.1432.221. 8039.21.9071$.87565434.t22.132.576.889775.643.4£32.544.6568. 7483.456.746.584.3586.657.48.3975.8432.65o73 “I remember how I chose the job of financier because I loved the silence.” 653.7.765432.579. 547964.7.547393.75437474545.4743585.466484064-4636436.87%.78. 90$.98 6.875.90.45%.T34.SH78.lk2t.r47q3s2q96t5.y7fm8.3s4b.65 $8.3720.9564.375.709.iy43.6583.280.9567. “This is a point of no return.” 483.658.9.789.SH5$.7£.32.78956.43.5.8712358.6$1.3892.5734.5684.73.658.3258.63.8.9563489.56894.3658.43656.43956.895.6y8. 34.6$58.93426.5.535235.45.39.35.5.“There is much to explain about the pleasure of an economy that remains obscure, as though it were a secret, Bobbie.” 543.2434.876.895.835355.3.7872r.42.%7783.3.765.9870.7543. 98687g3502.175.9032.75986.328.57 032.9900.65.45%.7509 “These individuals have as much to do with the nobility of the bank as I have with a rock star.” 832.65089386.3$29856.2308.95602.8635.08923.% 596.98.764.66542.31.0.8965.86598.764.76$.425.7 9650s.d236r. 26590.4657.23547.65634.97290.57956.2395.70936.589.37209.563 295.703Q286.59.82315.3096.57.90.347908%6.7340.9.8756.7865.93 “Have you at least asked whether a rodeo like this is entirely legal?” 6 53 72.6578.44.9$040.675.4%38.2489053.2876.4783.254$3.543245. 5687.98.654.21.32235.465£6y.89.895.46.5.42.55897.98.8753.%899. Sh%.76 “I won’t move one step away from the fact that even today a minimal sense of moderation is required.” 34.55.87.69.8.69.89.8.4$3.5. 43.1.2.544786.98’.03.7.49.82.3.£70.4.83.20957.906.N
