Lehman

Lehman is a surname of German origin. Notable bearers include the Lehman brothers—Henry Lehman (1821–1855), Emanuel Lehman (1827–1905), and Mayer Lehman (1830–1905)—who founded Lehman Brothers in 1844 in Montgomery, Alabama, later relocating to New York. The firm grew from a family general store into a major financial services company with investments in banking, securities, and asset management.

Lehman Brothers became a leading global investment bank and diversified financial services firm. In 2008, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, the largest in U.S. history, leading to a wind-down of its business and the sale or transfer of various assets and divisions to other financial institutions such as Barclays and Nomura.

Lehman College is a senior college of the City University of New York in the Bronx, renamed in 1973 in honor of Herbert H. Lehman, a former governor of New York and U.S. senator. Herbert H. Lehman (1878–1963) was a prominent American politician whose career included service as governor from 1933 to 1939 and as a U.S. senator from 1949 to 1957.

Beyond these institutions, the surname Lehman remains in use in the United States and other English-speaking countries, associated with various individuals in business, politics, academia, and public life.