Lehman employees on EBay offer mugs, parting shots

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's bankruptcy, the largest in history, sent the firm's employees to EBay Inc's auction sites to offer knick-knacks and memorabilia. And parting shots.

One employee selling a Lehman water bottle “worked here half of my career,” according to comments on the Web site. “Bought half my stock at a weighted average price of $45. Enough said,” the seller wrote.

Chief Executive OfficerDick Fuld “told me this brand new, never used bottle is unbreakable, but he also said that about our mortgage business 2 months ago. Caveat Emptor, I guess.”

Bidding on the green bottle with a black cap started yesterday at 99 cents, almost enough to buy five Lehman shares, and rose to $20.50. Lehman shares plummeted 94 per cent to 21 cents in New York trading yesterday.

While the 158-year-old Lehman Brothers navigated bankruptcy court and tried to sell off divisions, the New York- based firm's 25,000 employees across the globe weighed employment options. Some used the public forum of EBay's auction site to make themselves heard amid Wall Street's biggest upheaval since the Great Depression.

“Own a piece of Financial History,” the seller of an “Official Lehman Brothers Fire Safety Team Hat” said. “Please give this hat a nice home.”

Bidding on the red cap, whose wearer was meant to lead employees to safety during a fire, climbed to $31 from 99 cents.

‘Lehman is Dying’: “Everything must go,” the seller of four white T-shirts emblazoned with “Lehman Brothers” wrote. “Now that Lehman Brothers is dying, all of the LB logo items are of high value as they have become instant collector's items.”

The starting bid for each shirt was $12.99. As of 3:19 pm, no one had bid.

San Jose, California-based EBay has become something of an archeological resource for past failures, where collectors can find a piece of US corporate history for a price.

Almost seven years after Enron Corp's bankruptcy, shirts and coffee mugs with the defunct trading company's logo are still for sale on EBay. Two ceramic coffee mugs were offered for a starting bid of $9.99 yesterday.

EBay has no comment on the auction of Lehman items, said Jose Mallabo, a company spokesman.

Some entrepreneurs were quick to try and take advantage of the bank's demise. T-shirts reading “I invested my life savings in Lehman Brothers and all I have left is this lousy t-shirt” are already available on EBay. In small type below the main message the printer added: “Brother, can you spare a dime,” described in the post as “reminiscent of the Depression Era when banks also failed.”

One Lehman T-shirt, sized “large” and labeled “100% authentic” drew a high bid of $20.50, with the auction ending Sept 18.

“Please help me raise plan B financing for my rent check,” the seller wrote.