Silver lining for graduate in Lehman collapse
Former Vanbrugh JCRC Chair Ryan Bennett was inadvertently cast as a poster boy for the plight of workers left jobless by the collapse of banking giant Lehman Brothers last month after being photographed leaving the bankrupt company.
Bennett, who had been employed as a trainee only a week before the collapse on 16th September, saw his photo and story used by publications such as The Guardian, Evening Standard and international news agency Reuters.
“When I entered the building early in the morning there were only a couple of cameramen outside. By the time I there were paparazzi lining the street. I found myself racing through a gauntlet of press. By 3pm I was sitting in a bar and found that my picture was in the Evening Standard. It did bring a somewhat lighter note to the day when I was asked to autograph a copy,” Bennett said.
“I was also recognised due to the photo when I went to the local job centre later that week,” he continued.
Bennett’s photograph, showing him leaving the company offices holding Lehman-branded umbrellas and bags, was used by many publications to illustrate the desperate attempts of ex- employees to reconcile their disbelief and sorrow.
“Some employees were in floods of tears, while others were drinking bottles of vintage champagne once owned by the company. Traders were playing cricket down the isles of the trading floor, smoking cigars and leaving the building with all they could,” said Bennett.
“The heart of the company just seemed to die… employees flocked to the nearest bar to consolidate their losses,” he added.
The fall of Lehman Brothers was the biggest corporate bankruptcy since The telecommunications giant WorldCom collapsed in 2002.
Bennett, who is technically still employed by Lehman Brothers and is therefore still receiving the salary agreed under his contract, is staying in London to search for another job.
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