Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was formerly considered one of the elite global financial services firms in the United States. The organization specialized in business relations in investment banking, equity and private equity, fixed-income sales, trading, along with investment management. In 1844, a man by the name of Henry Lehman established a small shop in Montgomery, Alabama that specialized in the retail of dry goods and groceries. Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850 when Emanuel and Mayer, Henry’s two brothers, helped solidify the business their brother had originated. It was not long before the Lehman Brothers evolved from a general merchandising business to a commodities brokerage firm that bought and sold cotton for planters all around the Montgomery area. After experiencing consistent profit, Lehman Brothers eventually developed into one of the most cutting-edge trading firms in the country. The continual success came in large part from a New York office opening, which allowed Lehman Brothers to truly get a foot in the door within the financial community.
Lucrative companies must possess a specific mission statement to help clarify where exactly the purpose and direction of where the organization is going to move. Lehman Brothers contained a mission statement taking pride in setting out “to build unrivaled partnerships with and value for our clients, through the knowledge, creativity, and dedication of our people, leading to superior results for our shareholders.” With continual innovations and advancing in research techniques, the firm was able to maintain optimal financial profit for an extended amount of time. Leading up to the demise of Lehman Brothers, the company became profoundly trapped in the subprime mortgage-lending catastrophe, which inevitably forced the long-time prosperous company to file for bankruptcy in 2008.
Lehman Brothers Holding was a part of the global financial services industry. Before the company had to file for bankruptcy in 2008 they were the fourth largest investment bank in the US. The competitors listed ahead of Lehman Brothers were, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch- all of which are still operating and leading the industry today. The financial services industry, which all of the listed