Lehman Brothers founded by Henry Lehman In 1850, Henry Lehman together with his two brothers, Mayer and Emanuel, founded a firm which they named Lehman Brothers. The firm grew from vending dry goods to the cotton trade. Later on, after the passing on of Henry, Emanuel and Mayer expanded the scope of their business into brokerage services as well as commodities trading. As the United States economy expanded into an international warehouse, the company prospered over the following years. However, Lehman had to contend with many obstacles over the years. The firm survived all the obstacles including two world wars, the railroad bankruptcies that occurred in the 1800s, the Great Depression that occurred in the 1930s, the collapse