7 years after Lehman failed, this trader still wants his $83 million bonus

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NEW YORK — Before Lehman Brothers collapsed, pulling the trigger on the global financial crisis, a little-known bond trader was on a hot streak. Over two years, Jonathan Hoffman had brought the megabank more than $700 million in profits.

Just 35 years old, Hoffman was looking forward to an $83 million bonus. It was an eye-popping payday, even by Wall Street standards and a reflection of Hoffman’s reputation as a talented trader.

But Lehman’s bankruptcy threw Hoffman’s bonus into doubt. “Just plain [sucks]. No way to sugar coat it .?.?. i am pretty bummed,” Hoffman said in an 2008 email. “Never really had years like these last 2 before.”

More than seven years later, Hoffman is still fighting to collect that bonus from Lehman in what has become the ultimate Wall Street grudge match. Lawyers representing Lehman’s estate in a Manhattan bankruptcy court say Hoffman’s $83 million bonus was paid by Barclays, the giant British bank he joined shortly after Lehman collapsed. In other words, they say, he is trying to be paid twice for the same work.

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