As if the financial markets haven’t been in enough turmoil lately, one of the world’s largest banks, Lehman Brother, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early this morning. Lehman Brothers has been a player in the financial sector since its founding in 1850 and this news has opened some eyes to the severity of the nation’s current financial situation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made a push to save the huge firm by requesting that some of the nation’s top banks invest $35 billion into a deal that could potentially save Lehman. However, U.S. legislators were unwilling to use taxpayer money to bail out the investment bank.

Potential buyers Barclays and Bank of America were both considering deals that would rescue Lehman, but pulled out due to the government’s lack of funding.

In spite of the bank’s $600 billion of assets, stock prices plummeted Friday by nearly 97%, leaving Lehman with a valuation of about $3 billion.

Shortly after Lehman’s bankruptcy announcement, Bank of America announced it would pay $29 per share, a total of $50 billion, to purchase Merril Lynch & Co., another large investment bank struggling in the turmoil of the financial markets.

According to a statement from Bank of America Chairman Ken Lewis about his companies buyout of Merril Lynch, “Together, our companies are more valuable because of the synergies in our businesses.”

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