Bad blood at the Bear: Ace Greenberg vs Jimmy Cayne; We can't wait for the book....

Both yesterday and today we had major internet problems that have prevented  us from posting. As a result, this one, on the nasty feud between Ace Greenberg and Jimmy Cayne goes up a day late.  But we already had the artwork ready to go, so.... 

By now you all must have read  the great article in yesterday morning's NY Times on the icy relations between Bear Stearns' Ace Greenberg and Jimmy Cayne. A telling contrast between two men. Even after the Bear Stearns implosion, Ace still command a tremendous amount of respect and loyalty from current and former Bear Stearns employees; And he's "very happy" that he's got a nice new job with new parent JP Morgan as vice chairman emeritus (and no doubt, chief resident magician). Jimmy on the other hand, only commands contempt and disdain these days, for his fiddle-with-his-golf-clubs and bridge tournaments while Bear burned attitude.  And as for a job, got bupkus. He's keeping a low profile  these days.

“I walk around with a horrible, horrible heavy heart each day,” Mr. Cayne has told friends. “It’s a severity of pain that cannot be measured, because you can’t measure the pain of 14,000 families.”

Ace says that Jimmy igmored warnings about the looming credit crisis last summer.  But he wouldn't provide details, with a tease that he'd be dishing the dirt when the new book that he's writing hits the shelves.  And we can't wait til it hits the shelves....

That Mr. Greenberg now claims that his warnings went unheeded has driven Mr. Cayne to further distraction, these people say. One member of the executive committee said that Mr. Greenberg, as a longtime director, had ample opportunity to voice concerns about Bear’s vast exposure to subprime mortgages and its hedging strategies, which he did not do.

“He never said a word,” said this person, who declined to be identified because of the legal sensitivities in the matter.

Asked to specify what the advice was that Mr. Cayne ignored, Mr. Greenberg remained oblique. “You can read about it in my book,” he said.

\Quarrel Erupts Between Bear’s Elder Statesmen - NY Times