Beyman to Leave Lehman to Pursue Personal/Philanthropic Interests

Jonathan Beyman, executive vice president and chief of operations and technology at Lehman Brothers, will be leaving the firm to pursue personal and philanthropic interests, he wrote in an e-mail to Wall Street & Technology.

Lehman revealed in its quarterly filing with the SEC that Beyman, who over the course of two separate terms spent more than 14 years at the firm, will be leaving the firm effective May 31. The filing also notes that Beyman, also a Wall Street & Technology Reader Advisory Board member, will receive a special cash separation payment of $800,000 at the beginning of 2007.

The task of filling Beyman's shoes will fall to three of Lehman's senior executives. Bridget O'Connor, who was recently promoted to CIO; Mark Malin, global head of operations; and Mark Russell, head of mortgage capital operations and technology, will together fill the vacated role, reporting to David Goldfarb, chief administrative officer.

Under the separation agreement, Beyman "has agreed to be reasonably available from time to time to advise on business matters pertaining to his areas of expertise and experience," states the document. He has also agreed not to recruit Lehman employees for two years.

Beyman reflected fondly on the firm when he was contacted by Wall Street & Technology.

"I had a great run at Lehman -- love the place -- and for years, was convinced that I had the best job in the world. But there are other things I've always wanted to do, and this felt like the perfect time to retire from Lehman and do them," he wrote. "The first thing is that I've always wanted to go back to school and study history. So starting this summer, I'm going to Columbia to do just that. In addition, I'm talking to [University of Connecticut] about teaching an MBA course on management information systems. Lastly, I've been involved for sometime with an organization called DonorsChoose (www.donorschoose.org), which is an online philanthropy dedicated to helping public school teachers get materials for their classrooms. I plan on getting much more involved with helping them roll out their service nationwide."

Beyman, 50, rejoined the firm in 1999 after a stint as CIO of Cendant Corp. He has managed Lehman's 4,000-person global IT staff since 2002, before which he held positions as CIO and U.S. head of operations.

"I'm sure other things will come up down the road, but suffice it to say, I've been unbelievably lucky in my career to have worked for the best firm on Wall St, and even luckier that I'm in a position to do some other things, that I've wanted to do," he wrote.