Through no fault of his own, the 2008 prize for being in the wrong place at the wrong time in your PR career probably goes to former FT Editor Andrew Gowers. It was March 17th and in the wake of one investment bank's collapse, Gowers and three colleagues had just spent the day reassuring journalists that everything was fine with the bank they worked for. Then the voice of the chief executive, legendary for his aggressive confidence in the company he'd come to embody came on the speaker phone in their Canary Wharf office. He said:
"I don't think we're going bust this afternoon but I can't be 100% sure about that. A lot of strange things are happening ..."
The chief executive was Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers.
(The final part of Andrew Gower's account of the fall of Lehman Brothers is in The Sunday Times next week.)
ROSS FURLONG
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