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Millions of Washington Mutual customers woke up Friday morning fearing that their life savings, checking accounts and mortgages were in danger, after federal regulators seized the bank’s assets and sold them in a fire sale Thursday night. Despite assurances by the federal government that it guarantees deposits of up to $100,000, customers descended upon bank branches to yank out their money on Friday, hoping it was still there.

SEATTLE, WA (September 24, 2008) – Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), one of the nation’s leading banks for consumers and small businesses, has once again been recognized as a top employer by Hispanic Business magazine and the Human Rights Campaign. Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked WaMu sixth in its annual Diversity Elite list, which names the top 60 companies for Hispanics. The company was honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also...

Alan Fishman could be eligible for a multi-million paycheck after only three weeks on the job ... if he decides to keep it. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Washington Mutual Chief Executive Alan Fishman could walk away with more than $18 million in salary, bonuses and severance after less than three weeks on the job, according to the terms of his employment agreement.

SEATTLE, WA (September 24, 2008) – Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), one of the nation’s leading banks for consumers and small businesses, has once again been recognized as a top employer by Hispanic Business magazine and the Human Rights Campaign. **snip** The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also awarded WaMu its second consecutive 100 percent score in the organization’s 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures progress in attaining equal rights for GLBT employees and consumers. WaMu joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses that also received top marks...

Washington Mutual Inc.'s new CEO, Alan Fishman, will be eligible for at least $12.65 million or more in salary and bonuses next year, the company said Thursday in a securities filing. Fishman, who replaced Kerry Killinger as CEO on Monday, also received a $7.5 million signing bonus for joining the company, according to a regulatory filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under his employment agreement, Fishman will receive a base salary of $1 million, a target bonus of up to $3.65 million and a long-term incentive award starting in 2009 of at least $8 million. In addition, he...

Washington Mutual paid former CEO Kerry Killinger $14.4 million in 2007 and over $54 million from 2002-07, Forbes reports. In return, the nearly 120-year-old firm was led into the biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

I'm not putting a reference in becasue I want my freakin' title, I'm pissed. But search and you shall find ...

Largest Bank Failure in US history. $188 billion in deposits. FDIC couldn't fund seizure...FDIC next GSE bailout. This is getting iffy.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion. Thursday's seizure and sale is the latest historic step in U.S. government attempts to clean up a banking industry littered with toxic mortgage debt. Negotiations over a $700 billion bailout of the entire financial system stalled in Washington on Thursday. Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan, has been one of the lenders hardest hit by the nation's housing bust and credit...

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest thrift, was seized by federal regulators last night and sold immediately to J.P. Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion, avoiding the need for a government bailout of depositors in the troubled company.The deal was facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which said there would be no payment from its insurance fund. Washington Mutual, based in Seattle, made thousands of mortgage loans that its borrowers cannot repay. That has left it saddled with billions of dollars in bad debts. It has been unable to raise the money it needs to survive. Last week, the company placed...

JPMorgan Chase acquired the banking operations of Washington Mutual Bank in a transaction facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. All depositors are fully protected and there will be no cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund. "For all depositors and other customers of Washington Mutual Bank, this is simply a combination of two banks," said FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair. "For bank customers, it will be a seamless transition. There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning." JPMorgan Chase acquired the assets, assumed the qualified financial contracts and made a...

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was expected to announce as early as Thursday night a deal to acquire the bulk of Washington Mutual Inc.'s operations in a deal that would mark the end of independence for what once was the largest U.S. thrift. Federal regulators have been heavily involved in orchestrating the transaction, which comes as WaMu was besieged by a mountain of bad mortgage loans. Seattle-based WaMu has been scrambling to find a solution and put itself on the auction block last week. A number of interested parties have been poring over WaMu's books, but the bank didn't receive...

Washington Mutual bank explores takeover possibilities: report Thu Sep 25, 10:00 AM ET The troubled US bank Washington Mutual has approached certain private equity firms as possible candidates to take it over, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The private investment groups approached include Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group, which may team up with Texas billionaire Gerald Ford, the daily said, citing sources familiar with the matter. Questions have arisen over Washington Mutual's future since last week's dramatic collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers and the government rescue of insurance group AIG.

Just heard live. JP Morgan investor call tonight 9:30

Washington Mutual CEO Kerry Killinger stood before a Wall Street investors' conference last September and declared that his company — the company he had led since 1990 and built into the nation's sixth-largest bank and one of its biggest home lenders — not only would survive the collapse of the mortgage bubble but would prosper. Despite what Killinger called "a near-perfect storm" in the U.S. housing market, he said, "We have appropriate capital and sources of liquidity (i.e., cash) to weather the storm." Killinger declared that WaMu would add billions in new mortgages to its books, in a bid to...

Washington Mutual, the struggling savings and loan, has been working on several efforts to save itself, including a potential sale, people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. The unsurprising announcement comes as the bank, which has suffered badly from losses on mortgages it had made, continues to stumble. Shares in Washington Mutual fell nearly 10 percent on Wednesday to $2.09; they have plunged 94 percent over the last 12 months. This week alone, investors have been frightened by Standard & Poor’s cutting of the bank’s debt rating to junk. Goldman Sachs, which Washington Mutual has hired, started the auction several...

Washington Mutual, the struggling savings and loan, has been working on several efforts to save itself, including a potential sale, people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. The unsurprising announcement comes as the bank, which has suffered badly from losses on mortgages it had made, continues to stumble. Shares in Washington Mutual fell nearly 10 percent on Wednesday to $2.09; they have plunged 94 percent over the last 12 months. This week alone, investors have been frightened by Standard & Poor’s cutting of the bank’s debt rating to junk. Goldman Sachs, which Washington Mutual has hired, started the auction several...

WAMU: NO WAMPUM EXPERT SAYS BANK MAY COST TAXPAYERS $24B By TERI BUHL Posted: 4:31 am September 14, 2008 US taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $24 billion to rescue embattled Washington Mutual, the country's No. 1 savings and loan, a top banking analyst is warning. The jaw-dropping tab would come in the form of federal mortgage loss guarantees needed to coax a buyer into purchasing WaMu, according to Landeburg Thalmann's Dick Bove, whose view on the need for a federal backstop is shared by an official with the Office of Thrift Supervision, WaMu's regulator. Bove,...

Washington Mutual’s (WM) new chief, Alan Fishman, could be looking at the briefest executive tenure in recent memory. The American Banker reported Friday that the struggling Seattle-based thrift is in “advanced discussions” to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The publication, citing sources, said the talks “are ongoing at the highest levels of both companies.” WaMu didn’t comment.

Kerry Killinger, who helped build Washington Mutual Inc. into the nation's largest thrift and then presided over its rapid decline, is being ousted as chief executive, making him the latest casualty of the mortgage crisis. For months, Mr. Killinger had fought off a growing chorus of calls for his removal. Even after Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Wachovia Corp. pushed out their chiefs over mortgage-related write-downs, and Mr. Killinger disclosed losses at WaMu of as much as $19 billion, the company's board, dominated by associates and longtime allies, continued to back him. The board recently got new blood...