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The Balance Sheet (Wishing Bear Farewell)

Published: May 29, 2008

 Finance       
Approximate purchase price in dollars for Bear Stearns, approved by a majority of its shareholders on May 29, 2008: 1,000,000,000

Approximate market value of Bear Stearns' shares in billions of dollars in January 2007: 20,000,000,000

Length of shareholder meeting in minutes during which Bear shareholders approved the purchase by JPMorgan for $10 a share: 10

Bid on eBay in dollars for Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage coffee mug at 10:22 a.m. this morning (approximately 30 minutes before shareholders approved the JPMorgan deal): 2.24

Bid on eBay in dollars for Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage coffee mug at 12:42 p.m. this morning (approximately 90 minutes after shareholders approved the JPMorgan deal): 15.50

Percent rise in bid: 692

JPMorgan's initial expected approximate cost of acquiring Bear Stearns in dollars: 6,000,000,000

Realistic estimate of JPMorgan's cost of acquiring Bear Stearns in dollars, after it took on half of Bear's operating losses: 9,000,000,000

Number of executives working in the investment banking division at JPMorgan one week ago: 1,000

Number of JPMorgan investment banking executives laid off over the past week: 200

Percent of JPMorgan mergers and acquisitions bankers who were recently told they no longer have jobs: 50

Approximate percent of Bear Stearns employees that will be retained by JP Morgan: 45

Number of announced bank layoffs worldwide since August 2007: 65,000

Bear Stearns' life span in years: 85

Age at which Warren Buffet filed his first income tax return, on which he deducted his bicycle as a work expense for $35: 13

Amount of subordinated debt that Wrigley will tap from Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway in dollars to complete its deal with Mars: 4,400,000,000

Approximate size of the Mars-Wrigley deal financed by JPMorgan in dollars: 23,000,000,000

Year that Juicy Fruit, the oldest Wrigley's brand, was introduced in the U.S.: 1893

Rank of Juicy Fruit among gum brands bought by U.S. children: 1

Advisory fee in dollars collected by Goldman Sachs for its part in the Mars-Wrigley deal: 46,000,000

Fees in dollars collected by Morgan Stanley for its advice in the merger between Northwest and Delta: 42,000,000

Number of deals that have ever produced more than $40 million in fees to an individual bank: 5

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