[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] James Jimmy Cayne, former CEO of investment bank (IB) Bear Stearns, whose collapse marked the beginning of the downfall of Wall Street during the global financial crisis, passed away on the 29th (local time) at the age of 87.
According to CNBC on the day, Jimmy Cayne's cause of death was reported to be a stroke.
Jimmy Cayne was once one of the wealthiest people in the United States and was regarded as a long-serving CEO who led Bear Stearns for 15 years.
However, due to the fire-sale of Bear Stearns, he became known as a representative figure of poor management.
Born in 1934 in Evanston, Illinois, he attended Purdue University before enlisting in the military. Enjoying bridge, a type of card game, he moved to New York City in 1966 to play bridge and met his wife Patricia through the game.
He joined Bear Stearns in 1969, mainly building his career in the brokerage division, and led Bear Stearns as CEO from 1993.
Bear Stearns invested in so-called subprime mortgages (non-prime home loans) and suffered massive losses, recording a deficit for the first time in the company's history in the fourth quarter of 2007.
As a result, Cayne resigned from his CEO position in January 2008, and Bear Stearns was sold at a fire-sale price to JP Morgan in March of that year.
Cayne was criticized for neglecting his duties by enjoying golf and bridge games even as the company was in its greatest crisis.
Later that year in September, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, and other major banks received government bailouts, spreading the financial crisis worldwide.
During the global financial crisis, executives ousted from financial companies sought to make a comeback in the industry, but Cayne did not return to finance.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) evaluated, "Cayne, a taciturn, highly competitive, cigar-smoking executive, remains a classic example of a Wall Street 'boss' that is now hard to find."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
