Here's What Happened When Former Lehman Brothers Partied On The 5th Anniversary Of The Bank's Collapse
Here we are outside B.B. Kings. 'LEH' was the bank's stock ticker symbol, so the average passerby probably wouldn't recognize that it was a Lehman event.
You could tell it was a finance crowd last night. Several folks were wearing the trader uniform (blue dress shirt, fleece vest and bit loafers). Gym bags with Nomura and Barclays logos were scattered on some of the tables. Those firms took on huge blocks of Lehman employees after the bank's downfall.
There were two Lehman alumni bands — Fifth of Bourbon (Ken Umezaki, Fred Gilde, Jock Jones, Matt Fink) and The Fifth Wheel (Mike Neumann, Greg Gentile, Alex Kirk, Paul Altomonte).
Before the show, we got to go backstage and hang out with the bands.
The band members told us stories about the final days of Lehman. When the firm went under, all that deferred compensation was null and void. For some folks, that meant five years of work 'down the tubes.' One of the alums said that you notice some guys still working who are 'a little old for the industry.'
Also, everyone kept on trying to figure out the identity of the guy in this photo. We were stumped, too. Someone finally got it. It's Leo Nocentelli from The Meters.
Fifth of Bourbon was also selling albums for charity. Ken Umezaki explained their style as 'imagine Janis Joplin fronting Led Zeppelin and performing electric blues versions of Howlin' Wolf songs...'
As their name suggests, they do have a fifth of bourbon on hand in the dressing room.
Greg Gentile was the head of emerging markets structured credit trading at Lehman. He told us that things got 'progressively worse' during those final days. When his desk found out about the bankruptcy, they got a case of champagne and filled the garbage cans with ice.
(Right) Lehman alum John Cortese. He's now a managing director in credit trading at Barclays.
Ken Umezaki, who spent nearly 20 years at Lehman, gave the opening remarks. He noted that while the bank is gone, there are still a lot of great people.
Lehman alum Jock Jones on the keyboard.
He would switch off with Fred Gilde.
Ken Umezaki was playing the bass and the saxophone during the show.
Kathleen Fletcher is the lead singer for Fifth of Bourbon. She didn't work at Lehman. Ken Umezaki's personal trainer heard her singing R&B at Starbucks one day and told her she should audition for Fifth of Bourbon. That's how they found her.
Lehman alum Mike Neumann.
Drummer Matt Fink was a summer analyst at Lehman while in business school. When the bank filed for bankruptcy, he went to Barclays. He now works at another investment bank.
Greg Gentile, who now runs GMG Investment Advisors, played his cover of LMFAO's 'Sexy And I Know It.'
You can watch him singing it at a previous event...
Now let's revisit the days of Lehman...
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