The 1980s “King of Wall Street” immortalized in the Michael Lewis book “Liar’s Poker” died Wednesday. John Gutfreund was 86.
Mr. Gutfreund’s death was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
He worked at Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers for 38 years, eventually becoming its CEO and describing it as “the greatest trading organization the world has ever known.”
He resigned from the firm in 1991 while the company was under investigation for cornering the market on two-year Treasury bonds, a violation of financial regulations.
According to the Journal, Mr. Gutfreund wanted to fight the charges, saying at a meeting at the time of the revelations “I’m not apologizing for anything to anybody. Apologies don’t mean s—. What happened, happened.”
Eventually Salomon Brothers was turned over the Warren Buffett.
He was twice married and had four children.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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