The collapse of Bear Stearns: One year later

March 17, 2009 marks the one-year anniversary of the demise of Bear Stearns. Portfolio has a story that not only briefly describes the events that have occurred in the last 12 months since Bear's fall, but also tracks some of the fallen-company's top executives and where they are today. 

The story shows how quickly things can turn around. Just before Bear's fall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 12,145, John Thain was slated to be the hero who would rescue Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers was not on the radar as the possible next big investment bank failure of 2008. 

According to the story, many members of the Bear Stearns "family," including some of Bear's top execs like Ace Greenberg, were swallowed up by J.P. Morgan when it purchased Bear Stearns for about $2 per share. But approximately three-quarters of Bear's top bankers left the bank since the acquisition. The story catches up with former top executives including Jimmy Cayne, Alan Schwartz, Warren Spector and others. 

For the full story click here.