Three days that shook the world

Many of the principal actors in the drama of the September weekend have been transformed as well. Fuld has been moved out of his old palatial office to more modest digs on the 45th floor of 1271 Sixth Avenue. In addition to the $639,082 he received for selling 2.87 million shares for twenty cents each on September 17, he has a grand jury subpoena from three US attorney's offices.

Thain will continue to oversee the Merrill Lynch businesses at Bank of America and report directly to Lewis. He will no doubt have a large role in helping to eliminate 35,000 jobs -- as has been announced -- at his new firm.

Geithner seems to have passed his six-month trial by fire and is awaiting his confirmation hearing to become Secretary of the Treasury in the Obama administration.

When Fed chief Ben Bernanke and Paulson have discussed their decision to let Lehman fail, neither one has expressed any doubts about the wisdom of their decision.

On Monday morning, September 15, as the Lehman volcano was spewing molten financial lava to every corner of the globe, a pale and tired-looking Paulson said at a White House press conference that he "never once considered that it was appropriate putting taxpayer money on the line in resolving Lehman Brothers." He added, "Moral hazard is not something I take lightly."

More galleries