Jimmy Cayne was uncharacteristically penitent as he spoke before shareholders at a meeting Thursday to approve Bear Stearns’ sale to JPMorgan Chase, The New York Post reports today. Still, they approved the sale of the company to JPMorgan for $1.4 billion, with 84 percent voting in favor.
The LA Times quotes Cayne as saying "[I] personally apologize for what has happened … It's a sad day." The paper also reports that though the deal between Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase is slated to close today, and though the price was raised once to $10 a share from the original $2, the deal will face lawsuits from shareholders who are still contesting the low price.
Indeed, apologies aside, the road ahead promises to be rocky. But if any former Bear employees, or shareholders for that matter, need an outlet for their anger, they can always take it out on Geoffrey Raymond's acrylic rendering of Cayne, stationed outside Bear's Madison Avenue headquarters.
