Bear Stearns

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Bear Stearns

Type	Public (NYSE: BSC)
Founded	1923
Headquarters	New York City, New York
Key people	James E. Cayne, Chairman & CEO
Industry	Investment services
Products	Financial Services Investment Banking Investment management
Revenue	$16.551 billion USD (11/2006)
Employees	13,566 (11/2006)
Website	www.bearstearns.com

The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is the parent company of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms in the world. The main business areas, based on 2006 net revenue contribution are: capital markets (equities, fixed income, investment banking; just under 80%), wealth management (under 10%) and global clearing services (12%). The company was founded in 1923 and serves corporations, institutions, governments and individuals. It is one of the few investment banks that has stayed independent and not merged with any other bank throughout its history. The company's business includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp., it offers global clearing services to broker dealers, prime broker clients and other professional traders, including securities lending. Bear Stearns is also known for one of the most widely read market intelligence pieces on the street, known as the "Early Look at the Market - Bear Stearns Morning View."

Bear Stearns' World Headquarters is located at 383 Madison Avenue, between E. 46th Street and E. 47th Street in Manhattan. The company currently employs more than 13,500 persons worldwide. The firm is headquartered in New York City with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Juan, Whippany and St. Louis. Internationally the firm has offices in London, Beijing, Dublin, Hong Kong, Lugano, Milan, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

In 2005-2007, Bear Stearns was recognized as the “Most Admired” securities firm in Fortune’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” survey, and second overall in the security firm section. The annual survey is a prestigious ranking of employee talent, quality of management and business innovation. This marks the second time in the past three years that Bear Stearns has achieved this top distinction.

1 Subsidiaries
2 Financials
3 Corporate culture/folklore
4 Notable current and former employees
5 See also
- 5.1 Competitors
6 External links
- 6.1 Data

[edit] Subsidiaries

Bear Stearns also conducts business through other wholly owned subsidiaries, including Bear Stearns Global Lending Limited, Custodial Trust Company, Bear Stearns International Limited, Bear Stearns Bank, Bear Stearns Financial Products Inc., Bear Stearns Capital Markets Inc., EMC Mortgage Corporation, Encore Credit a division of BSRM, Bear Stearns Mortgage Capital Corporation, Bear Wagner, Bear Stearns Credit Products Inc., Bear Energy LP, Bear Stearns Forex Inc., Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc and Rooftop Mortgages. Bear Stearns also holds an 80% interest in Bear Measurisk.

[edit] Financials

As of November 31, 2006, the company had total capital of approximately $66.7 billion and total assets of $350.4 billion. According to the April 2005 issue of Institutional Investor magazine, Bear Stearns is the seventh largest securities firm in terms of total capital.

[edit] Corporate culture/folklore

Alan "Ace" Greenberg was chairman of the board for nearly two decades from 1978. He has become known for his regular quirky memos to the staff, exhorting them to cut costs by conserving energy, re-using paperclips, and fixing broken rubber bands by tying them back together. The memos, published in the book "Memos from the Chairman", are said to have created an "atmosphere of camaraderie and humor during the recession of the early '90s".

[edit] Notable current and former employees

[edit] Business

Jeffrey Epstein - private investor
John D. Howard - private equity manager
Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts - founders of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Sanford I. Weill - former chairman and CEO of Citigroup
Christopher Gardner - CEO of the brokerage firm Gardner Rich, and author of the memoir The Pursuit of Happyness, being the basis for a 2006 film of the same name

[edit] Politics and public service

Aída Álvarez - Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (1997-2001)
Carol Bellamy - Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (1995-2005)
Raymond W. Kelly - Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (1992-94; 2002-present)