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Finally Glucksman was named Chairman of the Board; however, the Board was maneuvering under him, and Glucksman's leadership had slipped. Many saw him as mentally unstable. The company had been lampooned on "Saturday Night Live." Partners quietly sought buyers for LBKB; Glucksman was out of the loop on those conversations. However the infighting at LBKB had made the company hard to sell (pp. 179-181). Revenues were going down, but Glucksman refused to cut costs, something potential buyers noted. The infighting was the topic of a Fortune article, and many believed that Peterson had leaked it (p. 184). Many at LBKB feared that the article would lower the company's sale price.

Even several years after these events, after Shearson/American Express bought LBKB, former partners of LBKB could not agree on what caused the tremendous losses of income that made the sale of their company their only option. They did not acknowledge the company's failure to streamline its expenses, and different factions still finger-pointed to other departments (p. 196). Ultimately, the collapse and sale of LBKB was due to failures in leadership. Both men who led the company at the end -- Peterson and Glucksman had significant business strengths and significant personal weaknesses, and the company maintained a culture of individualism that led to infighting rather than teamwork. That sense of individuals working for themselves, undoubtedly supported by the company's partnership structure, also encouraged the excessive spending for perks such as lavish entertainment allowances and free cigars in the partners' dining room. The company failed as a whole because the individuals could not work together.

Auletta, Ken. Greed and Glory on Wall Street: the Fall of the House of Lehman. 1986: Random House, New York.