Bear Stearns Employees Meet The New Boss

James Dimon tramped through the rain on Wednesday evening and strode into the headquarters of Bear Stearns, the embattled investment bank he hopes to buy for a mere $2 a share.

Executives outside the New York headquarters of Bear Stearns on Wednesday. Many of Bear's 14,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the JPMorgan deal.

More than 400 Bear executives -- seething, fearful and to their dismay, far poorer than they were a week ago -- were waiting for him.

Only days after his controversial deal for the beleaguered investment bank stunned Wall Street, Mr. Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, made an appearance at Bear Stearns, hoping to win over executives who have vowed to fight his offer. Mr. Dimon left many of them as angry and resentful as he found them.

"I don't think Bear did anything to deserve this," Mr. Dimon said. "Our hearts go out to you."

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Comments

[lean2454]

I was just offered an internship at Bear Stearns...is it a death wish to take it?

[revko]

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

Won't get fooled again?

[sparkey]

The workers will get fired. The new ceo's pay will double to $150,000,000. The workers who are left will work for less pay in fear of being fired themselves.

[diblinrag]

400 Executives, why 400 executive officers? Building consensus must have been a Bear, except for compensation packages. I would really like to know the truth behind this bail-out, Bear Stearns is an investment house, not a bank, why can it tap into the Federal Reserve reserves? Someone is very well connected to receive this kind of help. I don't believe that domino theory of bank failure story line, there's a worm in the wood...

[carex]

Basic Economics, which totally refute the Bear Stearns Bailout:

If you want to prop up not just B/S(interesting intials by the way) but many of the toubled banks on Wall Street, come up with an actual program which will allow these mortgages to be rehabilitated and start performing. By making their mortgage payments, even with the figures recalculated, should protect the banks, allow home owners some level of security and allow them to spend thereby stabalizing the economy. With performing loans, banks would feel more secure in extending credit to each other, as they do as a typical business practice, and allow businesses to secure capital for development and growth, thereby aiding in the stabalization and increase of jobs.

As to the Federal "Rebate" program, it is just a joke. That money has been borrowed , increasing our debt and futher weakening our economy. If you want people to spend it is
very simple, raise wages for the bottom tiers of employees. They will have planned and expected income with a higher proportion of it available to spend on items they really need, but previously could not afford. By extending this to the middle class and creating saving incentives, banks would become more solvent in the short term. The overall effect is to stimulate industry and offsetting employer costs of higher wages. I would suggest that it might also be helpful to employeers if the Fed waived employer/employee contributions on the amount of wage increase only which would be very helpful in the short term.

Bush took half of the available cash in the Federal Reserve to bail out Bear Stearns, and essentially screw stockholders. I do hope this type of activity is stopped immediately has it has profound long term effects.

[Mutex]

I would love to see the employees at Bear Stearns go on strike. I would also like to see the stockholders vote NO on this supposed 'deal'. And finally, I would love to see a lawsuit against the Board of Directors and JPM for collusion and malfeasance.

This 'deal' is a travesty of law and the very institutions that are entrusted with protecting the integrity of the markets are in on it!

I suppose I shouldn't get so worked up about it. After all, this is just one more example, among many, of the death of truth and fairness in our collective drive to prop up a corrupt, immoral society.

We are all complicit and I hope I live long enough to see the coming justice when reality intervenes.

[WIpatriot]

You know, Mutex, for years I didn't think I would see justice served in this country, but given the accelerated pace of events, I just might. It won't be pretty.

[Mutex]

WIpatriot,

You are right that it won't be pretty but, like a long, bitterly cold Wisconsin winter, it will be cleansing.

I am from Wisconsin too. What part of the state do you live in?

[manndan]

Sucks for you Bear Stearns employees. Hope that they hiring at the White Plains Wal Mart.

[vandegrasse]

Gee, what an original approach, to fire a bunch of employees. How absolutely and stupidly American. I hate capitalism!

[jwws007]

yeah, capitalism, the kind where if you're a banker and you screwup, the liberal socialists Bush and Paulson bail you out

[PacificGatePost]

A surprising group to have conglomerated. No clerks in the room.

It also doesn't appear to have been a very cleverly convened meeting. Just more proof that the top jobs need overhauling, particularly the CEOs.

"WE THE SHAREHOLDERS OF YOUR COMPANIES...... >>

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/03/letter-to-ceos-of-fortune-1000-cos.html

[ErnestineBass]

The "new boss" would be the one wearing a bullet-proof vest under his $4,000 suit.

[WIpatriot]

First, I'm not going to read the whole story if I have to subscribe to the NYT.

Second, he's as bright as a bag of hammers if he want to win over the executives of a company that's CRASHED AND BURNED. Thos should be the first people to go.

[gcallaghan]

I wonder if, while he delivered the bad news to employees, he was laughing on the inside over how rich he got overnight.

[joebaggadonuts]

6K at Citi, 1up to 14K here.... Pretty soon it adds up to big unemployment numbers.

[ErnestineBass]

All together, joe, close to last months 22,000 in new unemployment claims nationwide.

Sad and telling, ain't it?

Recession?

Anybody?

[edresearcher]

Oh, but Bush still claims the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Strange that a Harvard MBA can't recognize a recession.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Nothing like the threat of job loss to boost moral amongst the employees.

[WIpatriot]

HR earns it keep. NOT.

[ForRichardorPoorer]

I feel bad for the hard working lower ranking employees. But I have no remorse at all for upper management. This happens all the time to decent, reasonable, hard working americans. I'm one of those that thought that if you work hard, keep your nose clean, and don't get involved in anything that could possibly be considered a conflict of interest, you could go as far as you wanted in the corporate lifestyle. BOY DID I HAVE A GREAT DEAL TO LEARN. I had no college degree, but had worked my way up the ladder from a teller and loan clerk to Senior Vice President and Division Manager. Took me 20 years with the same management. I had the most profitable division of three counties statewide. Then SOME of the old management RETIRED. ENTER new president. After a couple years, he decides (makes a suggestion) he wants me to terminate the employment of any and every employee that has worked for me for over 10 years. Seems like longevity was now a liability and not an asset. All my employees were women (I'm a man) that had worked for me for up to 17 years and were doing a great job. Some were single parents. I told him that I believed that type of thinking was morally bankrupt. Six months later I was fired. They were fired and eventually HE was fired. Seems he was showing up to work in the morning after having a few drinks. That was 1995.

THe point. THere is none. Bull-spit happens. Corporations care less about employees than they do profits. A good manager/ president will weigh the scales equally. Sometimes it's better to be kind than to be right.

[Mother77]

Your point is well made. These vultures and pigs are the reason our economy is morally bankrupt. Unless we care about each other, well, it's down the tubes.

[ErnestineBass]

BINGO, Mother77. It's time to get back to basics.

[ErnestineBass]

Strange, ForRichardorPoorer, 1995 was the "watershed year" my corporate career went over Niagara without a barrel.

What was out President's name then...?

Oh, yeah. Clinton.

[ForRichardorPoorer]

I certainly understand. The chairman of our board at the time was a former high ranking official in the 1st BUSH administration. WHen BUSH 1 lost re-election he came back and literally destroyed the bank.