Oppenheimer 60th Anniversary - 57

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9/11: Tragedy, Recovery, Rebirth
It was an ambitious goal, he knew, but OppenheimerFunds had a solid reputation in the industry,
a powerful brand, and respected investment
managers. Despite sharp market fluctuations over
the previous 12 months, the Company was operating from a position of strength relative to investment companies that had bet heavily on technology
stocks. There appeared to be no major obstacles to
success as the all-hands meeting concluded on that
sunny Monday.
Then came the next day - Tuesday, September
11. As the Twin Towers fell, observers may have been
justified in thinking that prospects for achieving
Murphy's vision were coming down with them.
While the Company was very fortunate in that all
598 of its World Trade Center employees survived, a
financial services firm that had just lost its headquarters and now faced a sharp market downturn could
hardly be considered in a strong position to march
confidently in a new strategic direction.
And yet, in the days, months, and years that
followed, OppenheimerFunds employees demonstrated a determined resolve to succeed in the face
of adversity. The refocused OppenheimerFunds
overcame the challenges wrought by September 11
and avoided the infamous corporate collapses and
Wall Street scandals that would soon follow to set a
course for dramatic growth. In a way that might
have seemed improbable to anyone who didn't
understand the Company's values, the tests of the
early 2000s served only to make OppenheimerFunds stronger.
"We just never missed a beat during that whole
time," said Murphy, who described September 11 as
the day OppenheimerFunds began its journey of
transformation. "There was nobody looking back -
nobody had time to look back. We had a company
to save. We had shareholders to serve. We lost a
building, not a company."

A NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTION

2001

September 11, 2001, was a clear,
sunny Tuesday in Manhattan. CEO John Murphy
had just finished his morning jog along the Hudson
when the terrorist attacks began. At that moment
Bob Grill had just stepped inside Two World Trade
Center, the Company's headquarters for more than
20 years. Grill, retail marketing director, took stock
of the chaos, then began walking away while calling
colleagues to warn them of the danger and check on
their well-being. "All day and all night, we were making calls to everyone's homes," he said. "That whole
experience was a test of our mettle in a lot of ways."
The OppenheimerFunds Disaster Recovery Plan,
developed in response to the 1993 World Trade
Center attack, went into effect immediately, with
the primary concern being the safety of employees.
The Denver office reacted quickly as well, driving
communication and recovery efforts.
"It was very clear the No. 1 priority was the
people," said Kate Ives, vice president and deputy
general counsel in the Denver office. "It's easy to
say, but I saw it. We had the press calling, regulators calling, board members calling, funds trading.
But nothing took priority over our people."
Within 27 hours, the firm knew that all 598 of
its New York-based employees were safe. "By noon
the next day, we had found out that everyone was
OK. And that was such a relief," said Pat Lovett,
senior vice president, human resources.
Employees deployed to office space secured in
eight different locations across the Northeast, from
Connecticut to New Jersey. "We had legal uptown,
CTG in New Jersey, marketing people in Connecticut," recalled receptionist Yolanda Williams. Within
24 hours, portfolio teams were up and running.
When the New York Stock Exchange opened four
days after the attacks, OppenheimerFunds was
fully operational.
"I think it was a defining moment for the
firm," said Bruce Dunbar, senior vice president of corporate communications.

"We learned we have the people, the resources, and,
most importantly, the resolve to recover from anything."
The World Trade Center was OppenheimerFunds'
home for nearly 20 years, and the Company remained
committed to supporting the redevelopment of
Lower Manhattan. In October 2003, the firm returned
to its roots, moving its headquarters into Two World
Financial Center, directly across from the WTC site.
In remembrance of the events, in October 2004,
OppenheimerFunds committed $1 million in funding and became the first Principal Sponsor of Project
Rebirth, a nonprofit organization chronicling the
recovery of the World Trade Center site and those
affected by the attacks. Later, to commemorate the
fifth anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001,
the Company committed $1 million in funding to the
National September 11 Memorial and Museum. n

As employees from all offices pulled together to
handle the logistics of continuing to operate in the
aftermath of September 11, the Company's leadership team began implementing the vision that
The War on Terror begins as the United States invades
Afghanistan to depose the Taliban and hunt for terrorist
leader Osama bin Laden.

2001

"We had a company to save. We had
shareholders to serve. We lost a building,
not a company." JOHN V. MURPHY

Oppenheimer 60th Anniversary

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