Bear Stearns — Museum of the Fallen

The Obituary

Founded in 1923, Bear Stearns survived the Great Depression without laying off staff and grew into the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank, its stock near $172 in early 2007. It was also among the most leveraged, deeply exposed to subprime mortgages through funds that began failing in 2007. When confidence evaporated in March 2008, lenders and clients fled within days, draining its liquidity in a classic run. Over one weekend, with Federal Reserve backing of up to $30 billion of its illiquid mortgage assets, JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy the firm — at first for $2 a share, later $10. It was the opening act of the 2008 financial crisis.

Worth remembering

It was the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank, with a stock that traded near $172 a year before its sale.
JPMorgan bought it for $10 a share with a Federal Reserve guarantee, the first domino of the 2008 crisis.

Gallery

Bear Stearns offices in Canary Wharf, London XCONY · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bear Stearns headquarters tower at 383 Madison Avenue, New York C R (Flickr) · CC BY-SA 2.0

Watch

NYT reporter on Jimmy Cayne's rise and fall at Bear Stearns — CNBC Television

Sources

Bear Stearns collapsed in March 2008 amid the subprime crisis and was acquired by JPMorgan Chase in a Fed-backed fire sale Wikipedia
JPMorgan Chase initially agreed to buy Bear Stearns for $2 per share, later raised to $10, with Federal Reserve support Wikipedia
Facing a liquidity crisis in mid-March 2008, Bear Stearns agreed on 16 March to be acquired by JPMorgan Chase in a Federal Reserve-backed deal, with the Fed funding up to $30 billion of the firm's illiquid mortgage assets. Federal Reserve History

A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.