It was a leading underwriter of corporate bonds and one of the top firms in futures and options (known as "derivatives") and in securitization in a range of asset classes including commercial real estate securities.

[7] The bank was famed for its "cutthroat corporate culture that rewarded risk-taking with massive bonuses, punishing poor results with a swift boot.

"[8] In Michael Lewis' 1989 book Liar's Poker, the insider descriptions of life at Salomon gave way to the popular view of banking in the 1980s and 1990s as a money-focused and work-intensive environment.

In February 2022, it was announced that the Salomon Brothers brand will be revived by a group of former employees and execs and operate as full-service investment bank again.

[15] In response, Morgan Stanley refused to act as co-manager, and Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch were awarded top billing as a result.

[17][18] During the 1980s, Salomon was noted for its innovation in the bond market, selling the first mortgage-backed security, a hitherto obscure species of financial instrument created by Ginnie Mae.

[19] Shortly thereafter, Salomon purchased home mortgages from thrifts throughout the United States and packaged them into mortgage-backed securities, which it sold to local and international investors.

Later, it moved away from traditional investment banking (helping companies raise funds in the capital market and negotiating mergers and acquisitions) to almost exclusively proprietary trading (the buying and selling of stocks, bonds, options, etc.

[21][22] In 1987, a New York Times report identified Salomon Brothers as in the top tier of firms along with Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

[29][30][31] The firm's top bond traders called themselves "Big Swinging Dicks," and were the inspiration for the novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, written by Tom Wolfe.

[32][9] Some members of the Salomon Brothers' bond arbitrage, such as John Meriwether, Myron Scholes and Eric Rosenfeld later became involved with Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), a hedge fund that collapsed in 1998.