"House of Cards" by William Cohan Interview on NPR

[markleon]

NPR did a segment on Wednesday with the author of "House of Cards", William Cohan, which is about Jimmy Cayne and the demise of Bear Sterns. The role of bridge is featured prominently in the interview and, apparently, also in the book.

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=101681538

[mike777]

I am about 50% through this book so far.

 

Three thoughts:

1) Amazing that the stockholders got any money out of this deal

2) Amazing the bond holders were made whole

3) Jimmy Cayne talking about playing the nuclear card, "I would have played it" I wish he had.....( put the company in bankruptcy) if the stockholders do not get a deal.

 

Yes bridge does play a big role here. In the middle of the crises Jimmy is on the phone from Detroit. He was pulled away from the table where is was playing with Versace for a company board call. He is not happy. In the middle of the call they say...Jimmy, Jimmy we have a question? No answer....it turns out he left the call and went back to playing bridge.

 

The entire week he is in Detroit playing bridge. On Monday he thought everything was fine with the company. He flies back Friday and is told his company is dead.

[USViking]

Wow, take a look at what Jimmie had to say about

the Feds when they cast him and his financial

Frankenstein Monster adrift on an iceberg:

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/03/04/bear...surys-geithner/

 

(from link, emphasis added):

The audacity of that p—k (Timothy Geithner, then President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York)  in front of the American people announcing he was deciding whether or not a firm of this stature and this whatever was good enough to get a loan,” he said. “Like he was the determining factor, and it’s like a flea on his back, floating down underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, getting a h–d-on, saying, ‘Raise the bridge.’ This guy thinks he’s got a big d–k. He’s got nothing, except maybe a boyfriend. I’m not a good enemy. I’m a very bad enemy. But certain things really—that bothered me plenty. It’s just that for some clerk to make a decision based on what, your own personal feeling about whether or not they’re a good credit? Who the f–k asked you? You’re not an elected officer. You’re a clerk. Believe me, you’re a clerk. I want to open up on this f—r, that’s all I can tell you. 

 

Well, I shouldn't exaggerate so much.

 

Jimmie wasn't really on an iceberg himself, having gotten

$61 million out of the deal.

 

I have a confession to make.

 

For the past several months I have been employing language

similar to that used above by Jimmie. In the interest of tact

I will not say who I targeted with this language.

 

Here's a hint, though: they all have, or used to have, fancy offices

on Wall Street, and their collective behavior of the last 15 years or

so has ME teetering at the end of a plank over an iceberg.

 

And I don't got no $61 million parachute to soften the landing.

[hrothgar]

There was an hour long interview with the same author yesterday morning. The first 5 minutes or so had a lot of passing references to bridge.

 

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/03/19.php#24967

[pigpenz]

just got done reading this book yesterday it was a good read on of those books you start and get done with in 2 days.

 

Interesting bridge people

Alan Greenberg

Jimmy Cayne

Warren Spector

 

alot of egoes involved.

 

interesting that the way the book portrayed it that the biggest public relations gaffe for Jimmy Cayne was a report by Kate Kelly of the Wall Street Journal that Mr. Cayne smoked pot after bridge.