Lehman Loses $2.8B; CEO Faces the Music

A week after skipping Lehman Brothers' first announcement of its $2.8-billion second-quarter loss, CEO Richard S. Fuld took the microphone himself today to made it official, attempting to reassure analysts and shareholders in the wake of the bank's executive shakeup. "It’s now my job to make sure that we execute," he said after removing president Joseph Gregory and CFO Erin Callan, who had delivered the bad news until now, the New York Times reports.

Seven of the country's largest financial firms, including Lehman Brothers, had combined losses of $107.2 billion since July—nearly half of combined profits earned from 2004 to mid-2007. Some analysts were skeptical that Lehman writedowns are over, noting that other companies have said the worst was over, and then taken more big hits. (More Lehman Brothers stories.)