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YOU’VE GOT VOICEMAIL. TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM ECONOMIC RUIN, PRESS 1. ETC.
DISCLAIMER: This is over a week old and seems like the kind of thing that would make the rounds on the cable news shows in the states, but it only just hit my radar, so if you’ve already seen it, bear with me.
ITEM: Warren Buffett reveals that he probably could have prevented the entire global economy from collapsing if he only knew how to check the voicemail on his cell phone.
No, really.
Buffett appeared at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit (stop sniggering in the back) and was talking about how, on the eve of the Lehman Bros collapse, he was fielding a lot of panicky phone calls asking him for help. One call was from Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Capital, who had a plan to rescue Lehman Brothers, but needed Buffett’s support to convince British authorities to go along with it. The plan was pretty complicated, so Buffett asked Diamond to fax him the details, but when Buffett got back to his hotel room, found no fax waiting for him. Lehman collapsed a few days later, and the rest of the economy went with it.
Ten months later, Buffett asked his daughter Susan about a little icon he had noticed on the screen of his cell phone: "Can you figure out what's on there?" It turned out to be the message from Diamond that he had been waiting for that night.
And here we are.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that even if Buffett had gotten the message that night (or if Diamond had faxed him like he asked instead of leaving a voicemail), he would have said no to Diamond anyway. Certainly he wasn’t enthusiastic enough to call Diamond back and ask him why he didn’t send the fax.
It’s also possible that saving Lehman wouldn’t have helped the overall picture anyway, given the shape that Bear-Stearns and AIG were in, as well as the subprime market and other things I don’t actually understand in the slightest.
Still, if yr company is failing to the point where yr only hope rests on a 78-year-old guy who doesn’t know how to check voicemail on his phone, it’s probably too late.
Dial M for Money,
This is dF
ITEM: Warren Buffett reveals that he probably could have prevented the entire global economy from collapsing if he only knew how to check the voicemail on his cell phone.
No, really.
Buffett appeared at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit (stop sniggering in the back) and was talking about how, on the eve of the Lehman Bros collapse, he was fielding a lot of panicky phone calls asking him for help. One call was from Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Capital, who had a plan to rescue Lehman Brothers, but needed Buffett’s support to convince British authorities to go along with it. The plan was pretty complicated, so Buffett asked Diamond to fax him the details, but when Buffett got back to his hotel room, found no fax waiting for him. Lehman collapsed a few days later, and the rest of the economy went with it.
Ten months later, Buffett asked his daughter Susan about a little icon he had noticed on the screen of his cell phone: "Can you figure out what's on there?" It turned out to be the message from Diamond that he had been waiting for that night.
And here we are.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that even if Buffett had gotten the message that night (or if Diamond had faxed him like he asked instead of leaving a voicemail), he would have said no to Diamond anyway. Certainly he wasn’t enthusiastic enough to call Diamond back and ask him why he didn’t send the fax.
It’s also possible that saving Lehman wouldn’t have helped the overall picture anyway, given the shape that Bear-Stearns and AIG were in, as well as the subprime market and other things I don’t actually understand in the slightest.
Still, if yr company is failing to the point where yr only hope rests on a 78-year-old guy who doesn’t know how to check voicemail on his phone, it’s probably too late.
Dial M for Money,
This is dF
no subject
Now that's a Quote of The Day. lol
~M~