Although they might have messed up Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) far worse than anyone could have imagined such a venerable institution could be messed up, you'll happy to know that current CEO Alan Schwartz and chairman and former CEO James Cayne are staying on top of their real estate holdings.
Back in February -- while his company was in the midst of imploding -- James Cayne spent $27.4 million on two adjacent apartments at New York City's Plaza.
Something is badly wrong with corporate governance/executive compensation when a guy can sit by -- or in Cayne's case, play bridge and smoke doobies -- while one of the financial world's most revered institutions collapses under his watch -- and still have enough left to spend $27 million on two condos.
Meanwhile, Mr. Schwartz had pulled his $4.5 million property off the market and is renting it out.
Thankfully, these guys aren't out of the woods yet. They'll likely spend years dealing with a slew of class-action lawsuits stemming from the collapse of the company they destroyed. As Gary Weiss recently reported, Bear Stearns is no stranger to lawsuits.
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