Reading like the latest thriller the WSJ examines the players (the egos...) and the frantic maneuvers involved in the nail-biting conclusion of the epic collapse of Bear Stearns:
Late Sunday night, as lawyers raced to finalize the merger agreement, executives of the New York Fed convened a call for Wall Street CEOs. So many people were dialing in that officials were repeatedly interrupted by the announcement of new participants... During the question-and-answer session, Citigroup Inc.'s new CEO, Vikram Pandit, spoke up.
Mr. Pandit -- who did not initially identify himself -- asked a shrewd but technical question: How would the deal affect the risk to Bear Stearns's trading partners on certain long-term contracts?
The query irked Mr. Dimon. "Who is this?" he snapped. Mr. Pandit identified himself as "Vikram." Offended that Mr. Pandit was taking up time with what he considered granular inquiries, Mr. Dimon shot back, "Stop being such a jerk." He added that Citigroup "should thank us" for staving off further mayhem on Wall Street.
Read more here.