Lehman Payout To Creditors Hits $80 Billion

Lehman will distribute about $17.9 billion to creditors next week including $12.8 billion to third-party creditors and affiliates.

The payout topping $80 billion would signify a $15 billion increase from the bank’s initial estimate of how much would be returned to creditors.

Overdelivering in liquidation

According to court papers filed Thursday, a string of recent settlements with other banks and its own foreign affiliates have helped Lehman drive up the recoveries for every major class of the failed investment bank’s creditors. Interestingly, some groups getting as much as 6 cents...