Bear Stearns

The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.
Company type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: BSC
Industry	Investment services
Founded	May 1, 1923
Defunct	March 16, 2008
Fate	Acquired by JPMorgan Chase
Successor	JPMorgan Chase
Headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
Key people	Alan Schwartz, former CEO ; James Cayne, former chairman & CEO ; David Robert Malpass, chief economist for the last six years before its failure
Products	Financial services; Investment banking; Investment management
Website	bear.com

The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The company's main business areas before its failure were capital markets, investment banking, wealth management, and global clearing services, and it was heavily involved in the subprime mortgage crisis.

In the years leading up to the failure, Bear Stearns was heavily involved in securitization and issued large amounts of asset-backed securities which were, in the case of mortgages, pioneered by Lewis Ranieri, "the father of mortgage securities."^[2] As investor losses mounted in those markets in 2006 and 2007, the company actually increased its exposure, especially to the mortgage-backed assets that were central to the subprime mortgage crisis. In March 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provided an emergency loan to try to avert a sudden collapse of the company. The company could not be saved, however, and was sold to JPMorgan Chase for $10 per share,^[3] a price far below its pre-crisis 52-week high of $133.20 per share, but not as low as the $2 per share originally agreed upon.^[4]

The collapse of the company was a prelude to the meltdown of the investment banking industry in the United States and elsewhere that culminated in September 2008, and the subsequent global financial crisis of 2008–2009. In January 2010, JPMorgan ceased using the Bear Stearns name.^[5]

^ "Bear Stearns collapses, sold to J.P. Morgan Chase". History.com. A&E Television Networks. January 19, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
^ Lowenstein, Roger The End of Wall Street, Penguin Press 2010, pp.xvii,22 ISBN 978-1-59420-239-1
^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (March 24, 2008). "JPMorgan Raises Bid for Bear Stearns to $10 a Share". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
^ Ross, Andrew (March 17, 2008). "JP Morgan Pays $2 a Share for Bear Stearns". The New York Times. Retrieved on September 30, 2008.
^ Bear Stearns Brand Finally Fades, Two Years After Collapse

[1] "Bear Stearns collapses, sold to J.P. Morgan Chase". History.com. A&E Television Networks. January 19, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2023.

[2] Lowenstein, Roger The End of Wall Street, Penguin Press 2010, pp.xvii,22 ISBN 978-1-59420-239-1

[3] Sorkin, Andrew Ross (March 24, 2008). "JPMorgan Raises Bid for Bear Stearns to $10 a Share". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 16, 2018.

[4] Ross, Andrew (March 17, 2008). "JP Morgan Pays $2 a Share for Bear Stearns". The New York Times. Retrieved on September 30, 2008.

[5] Bear Stearns Brand Finally Fades, Two Years After Collapse

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