If there was one banker in the city who understood the world of debt and how to raise money in a pinch, it was Jimmy Lee. He was perhaps JP Morgan’s most senior deal maker, a mogul unto himself with his own banquette at the Four Seasons at lunch. His power derived, in part, from the fact that he was a virtual ATM for corporate America, writing massive checks to finance some of the biggest deals in history. Dimon told him he was hoping that Lee could structure a deal to loan AIG enough money to keep operating and sign up a dozen other big financial players to follow him.
