Ace in the hole
Alan “Ace” Greenberg
There’s an Okie on the front page of the Wall Street Journal today, but I bet he wishes he wasn’t. Alan “Ace” Greenberg, a native Oklahoman who ran Bear Stearns for 15 years, was among the major players who tried to stem the investment giant’s demise. Turns out corporate leaders should have heeded Greenberg’s advice to dump its massive and risky mortgage portfolio, the Wall Street Journal recounts.
Oklahoma-bred and Missouri-educated, Mr. Greenberg was the embodiment of the “PSDs” — poor, smart employees with a deep desire to get rich, upon whom the firm had been built. Mr. Greenberg, who ran the firm for 15 years before Mr. Cayne nudged him aside, was known on Wall Street for his voluminous memos, in the voice of a fictional character, urging traders on issues large (”it doesn’t pay to get too arrogant”) and small (save paper clips to cut costs).
But it was Mr. Greenberg’s trading style that had most defined Bear Stearns: Sell losing trading positions — quickly. Mr. Greenberg still recalled what his father, an Oklahoma City clothier, told him: “If something isn’t moving, sell it today because tomorrow it will be worth less.”
Greenberg, 80, has been openly critical of the company’s former leadership since Bear Stearns’ collapse. Greenberg, who came to the company 59 years ago after graduating from the University of Missouri, was particularly pained by the impact on thousands of employees.
The Journal’s three-part series on Bear Stearns continues Wednesday.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
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