Lehman Holdings

Lehman Holdings Inc. was the holding company for the global financial services firm Lehman Brothers, which famously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. Its primary function post-bankruptcy was not to act as a venture capital investor making new investments, but rather to manage the orderly liquidation of its vast assets and distribute proceeds to its creditors. At the time of its bankruptcy, Lehman Brothers had over $600 billion in assets, making it the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

The role of Lehman Holdings Inc. was entirely focused on the complex and protracted process of unwinding the firm's global operations and recovering value from its diverse portfolio of assets, including real estate, financial instruments, and various business units. This involved selling off assets, resolving claims, and managing litigation. The company officially emerged from bankruptcy in March 2012, but the liquidation and distribution process continued for many years under a plan of reorganization.

Throughout this period, Lehman Holdings Inc. successfully distributed substantial amounts to creditors. For instance, by 2017, it had distributed over $115 billion to creditors, a testament to the scale and complexity of the unwinding effort. Given its specific mandate to liquidate and distribute assets following a historic bankruptcy, Lehman Holdings Inc. did not engage in the typical activities of a venture capital firm, such as making early-stage or growth-stage investments in startups. Therefore, it did not have a defined investment thesis or typical cheque sizes for new ventures.