Investment Banking

What happened to Lehman Brothers’ final graduate class? Fifteen years on, this former banker wants to find out

A hundred graduates signed up to Lehman Brothers only to see it collapse months later. How did this seismic event shape their careers?

Lehman's analysts were thrust into a brutal job market where few firms hired as banks rushed to stem the contagion from Wall Street's collapse
Lehman's analysts were thrust into a brutal job market where few firms hired as banks rushed to stem the contagion from Wall Street's collapse Photo: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Dan Gus was just three months into his job at Lehman Brothers in London when the bank collapsed on Monday 15 September 2008. It was the biggest US corporate failure in history and kicked off a financial crisis that would send shockwaves around the world.

The 100 analysts on its UK capital markets graduate programme, which started in July of that year, had undergone basic training and were vying for full-time roles across the trading floors and underwriting units at Lehman.

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