Lehman's is a 158-year-old financial institution with offices around the world specializing in capital markets trading, investment banking and investment management. In 2007, its reported net revenues were $19.3 billion, and its net income was $4.2 billion. Both figures were reported by the company to represent record growth.

The firm began as a Montgomery, Ala., dry-goods store in 1847, founded by Bavarian immigrants Henry and Emanuel Lehman. A third brother, Mayer, immigrated to the U.S. in 1850 and joined the firm, which the three renamed Lehman Brothers. The retail business was soon eclipsed by their entry into the trading of cotton and other commodities.

Lehman's chairman of the board and CEO, Richard S. Fuld Jr., joined the company in 1964. Among those on its board: retired Halliburton chairman and CEO Thomas Cruikshank, retired IBM Chairman John Akers, former Sotheby's president and CEO Michael Ainslie and retired Telemundo chairman and CEO Roland Hernandez.

BusinessWeek magazine has called Lehman one of the best places to launch a career. Fortune magazine called it one of the 20 best employers for new college graduates. Working Mother magazine called it one of the best 100 companies to work for. The firm also maintains a corporate relationship with Spelman College, a top-ranked, historically black college.

Among the mergers and acquisitions led by Lehman: Altria’s $113 billion spin-off of Philip Morris International; Hewlett-Packard’s $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems; Liberty Mutual group’s $6.1 billion acquisition of Safeco; and Staples’ $5.2 billion acquisition of Corporate Express.