New York ? Its future in jeopardy and options dwindling, Lehman Brothers scoured Wall Street Thursday for a financial lifeline. Top executives contacted banks and rival investment houses about a possible deal to buy the company, bankers and industry executives close to the situation said.

The United States’ fourth-largest investment bank, which had tenaciously resisted putting itself up for sale, finally relented after a free-fall in its stock price and growing doubts about whether other financial institutions would continue to do business with it, according to these officials. They asked not to be named because they are not authorized to comment publicly.

Government officials who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing discussions said that a number of options were being explored and that no decisions had been reached on how any deal involving Lehman would be structured.

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have been working to help resolve Lehman’s situation. Fed officials are having conversations with relevant parties and getting updates. It’s premature to say what form any final resolution would take.

Any resolution of the Lehman troubles is not expected to involve the use of government money, which would set it apart from the billions of dollars that the government put at risk to facilitate the sale of Bear Stearns in March and to rescue mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week.

Randy Whitestone, a spokesman for Lehman, declined to comment.