October 14, 2026: When the U.S. Treasury Bought the Banks

Nine of America's most powerful bank CEOs walked into a Treasury Department conference room on October 13, 2008, believing they still had a choice. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson made clear they didn't, and by six thirty that evening, all nine had signed identical agreements accepting government capital in exchange for preferred shares.

On October 14, 2008, the Treasury made it official, launching the Capital Purchase Program and investing $125 billion directly into JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, and Merrill Lynch. The program marked a fundamental shift from the government's original TARP plan to buy troubled assets, moving instead to direct equity investment that could act faster during a financial system on the verge of collapse.

The episode traces the tense negotiation inside that room, the terms each bank accepted, and the lasting precedent the program set for crisis response in the decades that followed.

This is bsnsHistory, the daily podcast about the moments when business quietly reshaped the world.

Written and hosted by Ron Trucks. Research and editing by Rodney Russ. Sound design by Angela Cahoy. Music by Cody Martin and Soundstripe.

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