“I know it’s unpleasant to help a competitor do a deal, but it’s not going to be as unpleasant as it will be if Lehman goes,” Paulson stressed. “You need to do this.” For many in the room, the idea of coming to the assistance of a rival was more than unpleasant: It was anathema. What made the situation even worse was that the competitors they were being asked to aid were Bank of America and Barclays, the ultimate outsiders. Ken Lewis, Bank of America’s CEO, had disparaged them every chance he got, and they all viewed Barclays as a wannabe, a second-tier player trying to break into the big
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