Pete and the Petro-Dollars

"My calves were too fat. I couldn't click my heels." That was Peter G. Peterson's explanation of why, as Secretary of Commerce, he ran afoul of White House Strongmen H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. Peterson was ungracefully let go last December, but the Administration's loss became investment banking's gain. The personable, witty Peterson, 47, has been named chairman of Wall Street's Lehman Brothers, succeeding Frederick Ehrman, 67, who is retiring. "Pete" Peterson, a master at arranging international deals, will speed Lehman's expansion in international finance. Among opportunities that he foresees: helping some oil-rich Arab nations "invest all those petro-dollars," increasing foreign direct investment in the U.S., finding ways to step up trade with Eastern Europe.

He thinks that trade with Communist countries will "develop in some unconventional ways"--including joint ventures and bartering. "The problem is trying to arrange new kinds of deals, with private financing and a quick payout. The payout will not necessarily be in hard currency, but in products." Peterson, who still is solicited for advice by Henry Kissinger and Treasury Secretary George Shultz, expects that Lehman will help create and manage many such deals, "bringing money, people and ideas together."

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