Lehman Bros now down 45%

Maybe he saved a little of this largess in something other than mortgage backed securities. He could still be worth $50 - $100 million and will be able to live out his days comfortably in a gated community.

Jim Rogers in Bloomberg this morning asserted that by completing the firesale of Bear, that these dealer-meisters get to keep billions in year-end bonuses that otherwise would have had to be returned to a bankruptcy trustee.

Not much you can do with a mere 13M.

atleast Mr. Cayne got 13m ,most shareholders got zip ,i already saw ppl living in tentcamps on CNN

went from $2 billion to $20 million, saw that on MSNBC. Can't feel to good, talk about a bad weekend.

Which brings to mind the question, how do you make a small fortune?

Start with a large one.

What about the "shareholders?" Others have apparently picked up on this (I see a discussion at TPM on it) but with an America that has the corporation as the key figure in the Bill of Rights, far more important than "real" citizens, it's surprising that the shareholders of a corporation were so easily ignored in the lightning Sunday buyout of Bear-Stearns. Maybe the board of directors had a majority percentage of the company and voted to sell at the claimed bargain price, but if not then this would appear to be a coerced government theft of value. I'd be very surprised if some time in about three to five years we don't see a suit over this. That'll be enough time to ensure that any evidence of criminal behavior disappears and the sale "victims" can safely pursue damages against that abusive agent of the commoners (those lower beings beneath corporate directorship), the Federal Reserve. As laughable as this might seem, remember the key figure in the savings and loan national rip off of years gone by was eventually exonerated.

There's a great class divide in America and the director class is well protected from the concerns of the masses. Just think of the judges that will decide the prospective legal matters. It was far less conservative ones that gave us the higher status of the corporation as an individual - the golden virtual American. We've been told for years now that the true democracy in America is the corporation, which always follows the will of the shareholders, despite the ever obvious evidence to the contrary.

So any thoughts that the CEO or directorship of BS has paid a dear price in this sale of the company seems a little premature.

It's a win-win for the corporate class. The people come in to facilitate a buy that protects the directors from bankruptcy examination of the circumstances that lead to the horrific state of the company. There's the added benefit that if those circumstances are even worse than apparent, the people will cover the losses, again protecting the corporate class members that are the purchase partners in the sale. And the sellers, who don't really seem to have standing to sell, can claim improper coercion and collect later on their losses at the hands of an abusive agent of the people. Why Clarence Thomas might even open his mouth and voice his outrage on this abuse of the uber-American, the corporation.

Isn't there a Klingon saying, something like, "Schadenfreude is best served cold?" Or is it "Don't count your freudes before they're fully schadened?"

Foxnews Business is Calling this the biggest theft ever.

Thursday price close = $57/share
Friday price close = $30/share
Monday AM Open = $2/share ???

That CEO Lost $1 Billion in personal paper wealth since the stock traded at a high one year ago at $170/share.

Another multi-billionaire in England who owns 9% of the company lost over $1 Billion in this collapse.

Employees (especially managers) were required to own large shares themselves. They are now both poor and unemployed.

Massive shareholder class action suites are brewing.

Many financial insiders are watching for a domino effect to see other firms that depended on Bear Stearns for liquidity to also start collapsing.

Keep in mind that your CEO James Cayne is about to get hit with massive lawsuits from his fellow shareholders.

He is in for a next few miserable years and massive time and personal funds to be spent on his own legal costs to defend himself.

He is in for a very rough road ahead.

would be far more appropriate.