Jimmy Cayne's Wit and Wisdom - A Career In Lowlights

Former Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne is scheduled to testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today, and his testimony is sure to be memorable.

Roughly two years removed from his departure from the massively failed investment bank, his management style seem to come from a bygone Wall Street era that's hard to recognize. (His time at Bear reportedly involved marijuana use, golf and bridge outings during the crisis and a plethora of combative quotes.)

We've compiled some of Cayne's career lowlights below. Check them out and vote for the absolute worst:

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Cayne Uses Homophobic Slurs To Describe Lawyer Of Investor Who Sued Bear

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William D. Cohan's terrific rundown of Bears' demise -- "House Of Cards" -- has a particularly damning anecdote involving an investor who sued the firm for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. (The investor lost his case on appeal.) But after Bear collapsed here's how Cayne described the case to Cohan:

Their lead lawyer turned out to be about a 300-pound fag from Long Island . . . a really irritating guy who had cross-examined me and tried to kick the shit out of me in the lower court trial. Now when we walk into the courtroom for the appeal, they’re arguing another case and we have to wait until they’re finished. And I stopped this guy. I had to take a piss. I went into the bathroom to take a piss and came back and sat down. Then I see my blood enemy stand up and he’s going to the bathroom. So I wait till he passes and then I follow him in and it’s just he and I in the bathroom. And I said to him, “Today you’re going to get your ass kicked, big.” He ran out of the room. He thought I might have wanted to start it right there and then.

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William D. Cohan's terrific rundown of Bears' demise -- "House Of Cards" -- has a particularly damning anecdote involving an investor who sued the firm for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. (The investor lost his case on appeal.)

But after Bear collapsed here's how Cayne described the case to Cohan:

Their lead lawyer turned out to be about a 300-pound fag from Long Island . . . a really irritating guy who had cross-examined me and tried to kick the shit out of me in the lower court trial. Now when we walk into the courtroom for the appeal, they’re arguing another case and we have to wait until they’re finished. And I stopped this guy. I had to take a piss. I went into the bathroom to take a piss and came back and sat down. Then I see my blood enemy stand up and he’s going to the bathroom. So I wait till he passes and then I follow him in and it’s just he and I in the bathroom. And I said to him, “Today you’re going to get your ass kicked, big.” He ran out of the room. He thought I might have wanted to start it right there and then.

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Forgettable Classic Cayne

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Comments

[ibsteve2u]

05:25 PM on 05/05/2010

Is another good Cayne quote at http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/05/byron_georgiou_neglects_to_ask.html?mid=daily-intel--20100505 excerpted from William Cohan's "House of Cards".

lolll...I can't quote it; it would run afoul of moderation because of the language it contains, but it concerns Tim Geithner and fleas.

I think the message is that the boyz on Wall Street may be loaded - but certainly not with class or any other redeeming social characteristic.

[Matt12]

01:07 PM on 05/05/2010

Can't get away from the culture of chutzpa. These guys broke it, they own it, they stole it -- no matter who they try to blame. Just look at their bank accounts brimming with the loot taken from tax payer's money.

[ConservativeAmerica]

12:47 PM on 05/05/2010

Jimmy, you may want to blame your failure of the once proud Bear Sterns on your incompetence. Stop sounding like Obama who blames all of his failures on some one or something else.

[Mondayboy]

12:56 PM on 05/05/2010

When did Obama blame someone or something for his failures?

[averagewhitegirl]

01:35 PM on 05/05/2010

I was wondering the same thing - I keep seeing this type of post over and over...?

[Greg Petty]

06:29 PM on 05/05/2010

right on first part of your comment, you are totally in left field on the rest

[phree]

12:45 PM on 05/05/2010

Wake up people. These greedy, homophobic and racist boys are taking the whole country down. We, like sheep, invest our money with his peers, many of whom probably have the same views. They buy their congress, regardless of party; they buy their presidents, no matter who we elect. This shows why the economy will never recover for average Joes and Janes. Keep supporting the wealthiest 1% and you too will be cannon fodder for the next scheme they come up with.

[Erdgeist]

12:43 PM on 05/05/2010

Who says the rich create lots of jobs, lies. Guys like this bozo cause the loss of millions of jobs not to mention the loss of hard earned pensions.

[phree]

12:47 PM on 05/05/2010

Amen:
And they sure don't care about ethics or the little folks.

[jozzie]

12:40 PM on 05/05/2010

Sounds like Bear Stearns went under primarily because he was such a pr*ck. No one wanted to save him. Not to mention he wasn't taking care of business.

[karen1p]

12:38 PM on 05/05/2010

ALL these comments just prove he was a narcissistice, mysogynistic, homophobic man.....that is the kind of people who are running the world...duh. (not that I approve, mind you, I HEARTILY disapprove!)

[vippy]

11:53 AM on 05/05/2010

What else can he say, had the market not collapsed he could have been stealing even more.

[mrspiffy]

11:00 AM on 05/05/2010

Classic a**hole...
http://yieldpig.blogspot.com/

[jwws007]

10:30 AM on 05/05/2010

another CEO saying nothing was his fault, next thing you they'll be saying the sun is coming up tomorrow

[sposton]

10:11 AM on 05/05/2010

Ask yourself how a guy becomes in charge of a major bankster outlet? I'd say he has all the qualifications needed. ;-)

[blueken]

10:08 AM on 05/05/2010

And the sad ending to this story, this putz walks away rich and pension funds loose millions.

[jozzie]

12:41 PM on 05/05/2010

Yep. And where is the real outrage? Where are the teabaggers? Demonstrating on Wall Street? No.

[blueken]

10:07 AM on 05/05/2010

Of course, who could have forseen a down turn in the market? How could he have possibly known that it was a bad idea to leverage 31 times Bear's assets? Why was he payed the big bucks?

[higherstrategy]

09:57 AM on 05/05/2010

so he get all the Credit for when things go good

and blames everything and everyone but himself for failure?

What is the definition of sociopath?

[Aldyth]

09:57 AM on 05/05/2010

Big finance is just another form of organized crime these days. This guy is living proof of it.