James E. "Jimmy" Cayne (February 14, 1934 – December 28, 2021) was an American businessman and CEO of
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The comp ...
. In 2006, he became the first Wall Street chief to own a company stake worth more than $1 billion,
[ but he lost most of that in the 2007–2008 collapse of Bear's stock and sold his entire stake in the company for $61 million.][
]
Early life and career
Cayne was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
, the son of Jean and Maurice Cayne, a patent attorney
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and op ...
.[ Cayne attended ]Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...
, but left before graduating to join the United States Army.[ Cayne was a member of ]Kappa Beta Phi
Kappa Beta Phi () is a secret society, best known for its surviving Wall Street chapter that is made up of high-ranking financial executives.
The purpose of the organization today is largely social and honorific. The current honor society meets o ...
.
His first job was as a traveling salesman; he then sold scrap iron and municipal bonds.[ In 1969 he was playing ]bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
full-time in New York City when Alan C. Greenberg
Alan Courtney "Ace" Greenberg (September 3, 1927 – July 25, 2014) was a chairman of the executive committee of Bear Stearns, The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.
Early life and education
Greenberg was born in Wichita, Kansas but raised in Oklahom ...
, then a relative novice at the bridge table, hired him as a stockbroker at Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The comp ...
.[ Cayne became president in 1985, CEO in 1993, and chairman of the board (while continuing as CEO) in 2001. He was replaced as CEO only in 2008 and he was with the company until its demise.
]
Wealth
In 2005, ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine ranked him 384th among the 400 richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $900 million.[ By 2008 Cayne had lost nearly 95% of his fortune as a result of the collapse of Bear Stearns.
Cayne has been the subject of various press reports since the Bear collapse, including the fact that he sold his stake in the company for $61 million after its crash.][ On March 14, 2008, ]Charlie Gasparino
Charles Gasparino is an American journalist, blogger, occasional radio host. He frequently serves as panelist on the Fox Business Network program segment '' The Cost of Freedom'' and the stocks/business news program ''Cashin' In''.
Early life and ...
of CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
reported that the value of Cayne's holdings in Bear Stearns had declined from $997 million to significantly less than $200 million in the wake of Bear Stearns' liquidity crisis. Just days later, Bear Stearns came to an agreement with competitor JP Morgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...
for a full buyout at only $2 per share, roughly $236 million for the entire firm. At the time, Cayne had significant exposure to the company's stock, with most of his net worth tied up in shares of the company. It is estimated that the value of Cayne's holdings had dropped to less than $15 million as a result, effectively removing him from the list of the wealthiest individuals in the country. On March 27, 2008, it was announced that Cayne sold his entire stake in Bear Stearns, over 5.61 million shares, for $10.82 a share.[ This stake was sold prior to the vote on the renewed bid by JP Morgan for Bear Stearns.
In February 2009, Cayne was named in '']Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
''s list of "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
." In addition to being named on this list, ''Time'' also alleged that of all the CEOs during the crisis, "none seemed more asleep at the switch" than Cayne.
Personal life and death
In 1971, Cayne married his second wife, Patricia Denner. They had one child, Alison Cayne Schneider.[New York Times: "Home and Hearth, Deluxe Edition" By JULIE SATOW]
April 25, 2013 Alison is divorced from hedge fund manager Jack Schneider with whom she has five children. He was uncle to hedge fund investor Richard Cayne Perry.
Cayne had one child from his first marriage, Jennice Cayne Nienkerk, who has two daughters.
Cayne died on December 28, 2021, at the age of 87, at a hospital in Long Branch, New Jersey, from complications of a stroke.
Bridge
Cayne, himself a sound bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
player, recruited international-class professionals to form teams that have won more than a dozen North American championships. For example, he hired one American and four Italian world champions to win the Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams in November 2011, his sixth win in that competition. His bridge career as a sponsor and player has resulted in attaining the ranks of ACBL Grand Life Master and World Bridge Federation World Master. In the biennial Bermuda Bowl
The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the W ...
world championship teams, his 1995 team USA1—one of two that represented the United States, a unique status—finished ninth (the lowest U.S. finish in the sixty-year history of the event), while Team USA2 placed first."32nd World Team Championships: Results & Participants"
1995. World Bridge Federation. In March 2002, ''The New York Daily Sun'' announced that Cayne would be contributing a bridge column.[
;Wins
]North American Bridge Championships
North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...
(17)
* Spingold
The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...
(3) 1989, 1990, 2015
* Reisinger
The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Reisinger is a board-a-match event.
History
The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...
(6) 1977, 1988, 1992, 2007, 2010, 2011
* Grand National Teams
The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...
(1) 1994
* Open Board-a-Match Teams (1) 2011
* Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1969, 1988
* Jacoby Open Swiss Teams
The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams is a four session Swiss Teams event with two qualifying a ...
(2) 1996, 2005
* Master Mixed Teams (1) 1966
* Life Master Men's Pairs (1) 1969
United States Bridge Championships (1)
* Open Team Trials (1) 1995
Other notable wins:
* Maccabiah Games (1) 1981
* Cavendish Invitational Teams (1) 1986
* Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 1982
* Goldman Pairs (1) 1968
;Runners up
* Olympiad Mixed Teams (1) 1974
* World Mixed Pairs (1) 1974
North American Bridge Championships
North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...
(15)
* Vanderbilt (3) 1983, 1997, 1998
* Spingold
The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...
(3) 1994, 1997, 2006
* Reisinger
The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Reisinger is a board-a-match event.
History
The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...
(4) 1981, 1993, 1994, 1996
* Open Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1995
* Men's Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1989
* Mixed Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1996
* Life Master Pairs (2) 1969, 1973
United States Bridge Championships (1)
* Open Team Trials (1) 1998
Other notable second places:
* Now! Invitational Pairs (1) 1981
* Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 1976
References
External links
* Heidi N. Moore (March 4, 2009)
"Bear Stearns’ Jimmy Cayne’s Profane Tirade Against Treasury’s Geithner"
WSJ Blogs: Deal Journal. ''The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved 2013-01-29. —primarily excerpts from William D. Cohan, '' House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street'' (Doubleday, March 2009).
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cayne, James
1934 births
2021 deaths
American chief executives of financial services companies
American contract bridge players
American stockbrokers
Bear Stearns people
Bermuda Bowl players
Businesspeople from Evanston, Illinois
Businesspeople from New York City
Former billionaires
Military personnel from Illinois
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople