Lehman Bankruptcy Ended

It was revealed on Tuesday that Lehman Brothers Holding's $639 billion bankruptcy, a U.S. record, has ended. The company is clear from April 17 to begin the process of distributing approximately $65 billion to creditors.

According to Reuters, Lehman expects the first group of payments to total at least $10 billion.

The company is now a fraction it's size pre-bankruptcy following its collapse in September 2008 when it rocked financial markets around the world. It has taken exactly 1,268 days to end the case, and now it will start to pay back Wall Street creditors like Goldman Sachs, and hedge fund investors like Paulson & Co. Together, those two specific companies had over $300 billion in claims.

Lehman Brothers itself will continue to exist for some time, selling assets from its midtown Manhattan headquarters, now down to two floors. The end of the court proceedings means that Lehman no longer needs to seek court permission for every asset sale, or any other corporate decision.

However, though the bankruptcy proceedings are over, Lehman has not seen the last of a courtroom. There are plenty of claims and suits remaining against the company.