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Cayne Cashes in Bear Stake

TSC Staff

Bear Stearns(BSC Quote) Chairman James Cayne and his wife on Tuesday sold more than $60 million in stock in the collapsed brokerage, in the wake of its sale to JPMorgan Chase(JPM Quote).

Cayne, who stepped down as CEO of Bear in January after the firm suffered billions in writedowns tied to soured mortgages, sold 5.6 million shares of stock at $10.84 apiece, according to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. An additional 45,669 shares held by his spouse were sold for the same price on the same day.

Bear's stock closed as high as $92.89 on Feb. 1 and sported a 52-week high of $159.36.

Bear stock had closed at $57 as recently as March 13, before rumors of liquidity problems began plaguing the 85-year-old firm. Those rumors spurred a rash or margin calls that led to Bear seeking help from the Federal Reserve'sdiscount window on March 14 through JPMorgan.

After a weekend of harried negotiations between Bear, JPMorgan and federal officials, Bear and JPMorgan on March 17 announced a deal to buy the bank for $2 a share, with the Fed guaranteeing $30 billion in shaky Bear debt. Public outcry over the perceived federal bailout and fire sale price led to JPMorgan renegotiating the price to $10 a share on Monday and the Fed reducing slightly the amount of debt it will guarantee.