James E. “Jimmy” Cayne (February 14, 1934 – December 28, 2021) was an American businessman and CEO of Bear Stearns. 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.
What was Jimmy Cayne’s net worth?
Jimmy Cayne was an American businessman who had a net worth of $100 million dollars at the time of his death. He was best known for being the CEO of Bear Stearns at the time of the bank’s collapse in 2008. Jimmy died on December 28, 2021 at the age of 87 after suffering from a stroke.
Early Life
James “Jimmy” Cayne was born on February 14, 1934. Jimmy grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He attended Purdue University but left to join the United States Army.
After serving in the army he got a job as a traveling salesman, selling photocopiers door-to-door. He eventually transitioned into selling commodities like scrap iron and then municipal bonds.
Bear Stearns
Around this time he was also actively playing the card game Bridge at clubs around New York City. One of his opponents was Alan C. Greenberg, the CEO of Bear Stearns. The two became fast friends and Alan soon hired Jimmy to be a stockbroker.
Jimmy quickly rose the corporate ranks at Bear Stearns. In 1985 he was named company President. In 1993 he took over as CEO from Greenberg. He became the Chairman of the Board in 2011.
Financial Rise and Collapse
Thanks to the sky-rocketing rise of Bear Stearns’ stock price, by 2005 Jimmy Cayne’s personal net worth was estimated at $900 million.
At the absolute zenith of Bear Stern’s success, Jimmy’s personal stake in the company was worth more than $1 billion dollars. He was the first chief of a Wall Street bank to have a net worth that exceed $1 billion
He adamantly never sold a share in the company and encouraged other Bear Sterns employees to follow his lead.
Unfortunately, Bear Stearns collapsed in spectacular fashion in the 2007/2008 financial crisis.
While he was away at a bridge convention in 2007, two Bear Stearns hedge funds collapsed. In 2008, once again he was at a bridge competition while Bear Stearns was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Within the first few months of 2008, Jimmy’s Bear Stearns stock dropped in value from $1 billion to $200 million.
He still never sold a share.
In March 2008 Bear Stearns sold itself to JP Morgan for $2 per share, which equated to a total firm value of $236 million. In early 2007 the company’s market cap was $20 billion. The sale is considered the first major domino that fell and ultimately set off the 2008 global recession, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
In the full aftermath of the firm’s collapse, Jimmy finally offloaded his stake in Bear Stearns for a total of $61 million before taxes.
He was named by Time Magazine as one of their “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis.” CNBC named him one of the “Worst American CEOs of All Time”.
Personal Life
Jimmy was married to Patricia Denner from 1971 until his passing in December 2021. They had one daughter and five grandchildren.
Jimmy also had a child from a previous marriage. He had two grandchildren from this child.
