Market Low, Cayne High
Deal with the mortgage crisis. Minimize the pain of a hedge fund implosion. Play a game of bridge. Smoke a J. That may be a day in the life of Bear Stearns Chief Executive, Jimmy Cayne.
The 73-year-old is said to sometimes end his day with marijuana, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Cayne’s leadership skills during the firm’s rough summer (in July, two of the firm’s hedge funds collapsed) are put under a microscope as the Journal highlights some of his quirky habits, including weeklong Bridge tournaments (when’s he not cheating at golf) where he once allegedly invited a woman into a men’s room where they shared a joint. (Of course, this could all be rampant speculation.)
The report says during 10 critical days of the firm’s hedge-fund crisis, Cayne was playing in a Bridge tournament in Nashville, Tenn., without a cellphone or an email device. Who can blame the guy? What a buzz kill that would have been.
And on July 12, according to the Journal, while talking to visitors Cayne, “seemed less interested in discussing the markets than in talking about a breakfast-cereal allergy and his stash of unlabeled Cuban cigars.” Why get down about the market when there’s contraband waiting to be smoked?
The good news is that it doesn’t seem like Cayne will get Stan O’Neal’ed anytime soon. His people love him. (Hmmm. We wonder why.) The firm’s president, Alan Schwartz, told the Journal, “Anyone who thinks that Jimmy Cayne isn’t fired up everyday and ready to get to work hasn't been living in my world.”
Click here to read more about Cayne.
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