Analysts blame CEO's overconfidence for Lehman's bankruptcy

New York: Analysts are now attributing the collapse of Lehman Brothers to the over confidence of its dynamic CEO Richard Fuld.

"Fuld went wrong in not taking seriously enough the impairment of his balance sheet," said Charles Peabody, analyst at independent research firm Portales Partners.

Fuld, who had salvaged the company from near-death experiences like the Asian debt crisis of 1998, is now living his worst nightmare as the venerable investment bank stands on the verge of collapse.

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Until June, it had never even reported a quarterly loss as a public company. In March, Fuld was awarded a $22 million bonus for 2007 - a generous pay package to be sure, but one that also reflected a year in which the bank's net profit had risen 5 percent to a record $4.2 billion.

The adage 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall' soon proved right for the bank as it emerged as Wall Street's next domino as real estate loans and other toxic assets increasingly weighed on its balance sheet, especially after the collapse of Bear Stearns in March.

Peabody says, "Fuld had typical hubris that any long-term CEO has: 'I built this thing, and it's got more value than the marketplace understands'. "As the credit crisis worsened , Fuld was Wall Street's one seemingly teflon chief executive, keeping his job unchallenged even as CEOs fell at rivals like Bear, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup and as Fuld's own underlings including chief financial officer Erin Callan were pushed out.