Lehman head contributed to company’s demise

Mark Walsh, the head of Lehman Brothers Holdings’ commercial real estate operations, will likely leave now that Barclays has acquired the company. According to Lehman’s financial records and people familiar with its business, Walsh pushed Lehman into risky loans and investments and was reportedly one of the most aggressive lenders of “bridge equity.” Lehman has been forced to mark down some of Walsh’s investments by $3.6 billion this year, and sold about $7 billion of commercial mortgages and mortgage securities, some at losses of up to 20 percent. [WSJ] and [NYO]