page_title: Mushroom management
section_title: Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
hierarchical_section_title: Mushroom management / Examples / Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
caption_attribution_description: Richard S. Fuld, Jr.
context_page_description: Mushroom management, also known as pseudo-analysis or blind development, is the running of a company where the communication channels between the managers and the employees do not work traditionally. The term mushroom management alludes to the stereotypical view of mushroom cultivation: kept in the dark and fed bullshit.
context_section_description: During the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, considerable information about the bank's management was revealed, including the way Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the former CEO, organised the bank. The bank had started to concentrate more and more on excessively risky mortgages; however, neither the employees nor the public were aware of the bank's financial situation. Fuld, together with other managers, had kept a significant amount of essential information secret, as well as lying to the investors and to all other involved parties. Everybody else had thought that Lehman Brothers were involved with a variety of investments, including both safe and risky investments; in reality, though, they had been working with a much more risky portfolio than was appropriate. After the bank became bankrupt, Fuld refused to take the blame for any of these events, even though he was responsible for the concealment of the information.
caption: Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers CEO.
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