DealBook readers, take note. Wednesday is birthday No. 57 for Jamie Dimon.
And unlike five birthdays ago, one can presume that Mr. Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, will not need to ponder buying a major rival on the verge of bankruptcy.
In what is now Wall Street lore, Mr. Dimon was celebrating his 52nd birthday at a Greek restaurant in Midtown Manhattan on March 13, 2008, surrounded by his wife, his parents and one of his three daughters. But his dinner was interrupted by a call on his cellphone, which was normally used by his children.
As it turns out, the caller was Gary Parr, a senior deal maker at Lazard - who was working on behalf o Bear Stearns.
From Kate Kelly’s “Street Fighters,†with addenda in brackets:
“Jamie,†Parr began, “I’m sorry to bother you. But I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.â€
Dimon wasn’t thrilled. Even when it wasn’t a special occasion, he hated being interrupted on his cellphone, which was reserved largely for his kids’ use. This, he figured, must be a real emergency.
“I’m calling about Bear Stearns,†Parr said. “We have a real issue here and we need to be talking to you and your team. They’re in desperate shape. They need a lot of money.†He asked if there was any chance Dimon cou! ld make Bear a big loan that night.
Dimon’s mind whirled. He couldn’t fathom making a purchase of Bear’s size in just 12 hours. Still, there could be some possibilities there. He asked if Bear had been in touch with Hank Paulson [then the Treasury secretary] or Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman.
Parr said yes. Bear executives had been in touch with those parties all day, he said, and would continue to post them that vening as things progressed. He pressed Dimon. Though it would be tough to do an overnight deal, was he willing to explore some options Would Dimon take a direct call from Alan Schwartz [then Bear's chief executive]
“I’d be happy to talk to Alan, and I can get a team on it right away,†Dimon replied. By now he had walked out of the restaurant and onto East Forty-Eighth Street, where he could speak more privately. He hung up and began dialing his deputies.
The rest is history. Mr. Dimon ultimately agreed to buy Bear for the bargain-basement price of $2 a share, which was later raised to $10 a share, with support from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. JPMorgan emerged from the financial crisis stronger than most of its rivals, making its chief one of t! he most p! owerful banking leaders around.
JPMorgan has taken a number of hits, including the enormous trading loss incurred by a powerful internal unit. That is the subject of a hearing scheduled in Washington on Friday.
Over all, the firm remains near the top of many banking league tables and still regularly turns a profit.
But Mr. Dimon may very well be hoping that this year, he will not be interrupted by a phone call.
