Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves

by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Bob Steel climbed the steps of Wachovia’s corporate jet at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to head back to Charlotte. He had spent virtually the entire week in back-to-back meetings with Citigroup to coordinate the details of the merger, which they planned to herald in a full-page newspaper ad on Friday, declaring: “Citibank is honored to enter into a partnership with Wachovia . . . the perfect partner for Citibank.” While he was frustrated with the paltry final price of the deal, he was proud to have at least saved the firm from failure, and he knew that he had explored every possible option in trying to do so.