In August 1991, Mr. Denham left Munger Tolles to serve as General Counsel of Salomon Inc and its subsidiary, Salomon Brothers. While general counsel, Mr. Denham led the firm’s response to the investigation of Salomon Brothers that followed the firm’s involvement in the 1991 Treasury auction scandal, and he was responsible for resolving all legal and regulatory issues that arose from those events.
He became chairman and CEO of Salomon Inc in June 1992. As chairman and CEO of Salomon, Mr. Denham was responsible for management of a financial services holding company whose principal businesses were investment banking and securities trading (Salomon Brothers), commodities trading (Phibro) and oil refining (Basis Petroleum). Mr. Denham managed the rebuilding of Salomon’s business following settlement of the U.S. Government’s Treasury auction claims against Salomon Brothers, developed risk management procedures, developed the firm’s bank and bridge lending business and chaired its commitments committee, and participated actively in its investment banking efforts. In September 1997 Mr. Denham negotiated the sale of Salomon Inc to Travelers for $9.6 billion in stock.
Prior to joining Salomon, Mr. Denham had been at Munger Tolles for 20 years, including five years as managing partner.