Cayne joins rogues list

This was inevitable: Jimmy Cayne has been informing top executives at Bear Stearns that he will step down as CEO and a formal announcement is expected as early as today.  Alan Schwartz will move from president to CEO, according to the New York Times. Many wonder how Cayne could have lasted this long. Well, his board has long been in hip pocket--and he owns 5 percent of the firm. He likely thought he was invincible; he reportedly rebuffed many merger offers, citing low offer prices. The Wall Street Journal article about his pot smoking and golf habits really got the new-CEO ball rolling. But in the end, it came down to performance, and Bear has fallen off a cliff. The issue now is whether Bear will merge with another bank.  

For more:
- here's the New York Times article