Bear Stearns rests in good company: walking through the financial services graveyard

by Patrice Sarath, June 10th, 2008, 7:00 am

The ignominious demise of Bear Stearns is the latest in a long line of similar obituaries. The histories of Hoover’s financial services company records are littered with the names of firms that once ruled Wall Street. It’s like playing six degrees of separation, only with E.F. Hutton (“When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.”) instead of Kevin Bacon.

So what actually happened to E.F. Hutton? Well, it became part of Shearson Lehman in 1988, was acquired by Travelers, and now is part of Citigroup.

Shearson Lehman? They were the result of an acquisition/combination of Shearson and Lehman Brothers. The Shearson part was dropped, and now we have Lehman Brothers.

Remember Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover? So 1998. It became plain Morgan Stanley in 2001.

Salomon Brothers? This was a huge old firm, acquired by Travelers and merged with Smith Barney in 1997. Smith Barney had been acquired by Travelers in 1993. Now where are they? Now they are Citigroup Global Markets and exist as brands only.

First Boston became part of Credit Suisse in 1978 — now it’s Credit Suisse (USA). More than 20 years later, Donaldson, Lufkin Jenrette also became part of Credit Suisse (USA).

ING Groep picked up the pieces after the venerable Barings Bank failed so spectacularly and noisily in 1995. Less dramatically, Wasserstein Perella, jauntily nicknamed “Wasserella,” became the staid Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein when Dresdner Bank bought it in 2001.

Remember Manufacturers Hanover? Sure you do. It was acquired by Chemical Bank in 1991. Remember Chemical? Chemical acquired Chase Manhattan in 1996, but took the more illustrious Chase name. Remember J.P. Morgan? Chase acquired J.P. Morgan in 2001 to form JPMorgan Chase. Remember Bear Stearns …

Many of these firms were founded in the 19th century or in the early days of the 20th. Their names were the names of the men who drove capitalism, for good or ill, in a time when the Wild West wasn’t just a metaphor and when an “anything goes” mentality ran amok in the financial world. Now only their ghosts remain. In the graveyard of the banking world, Bear Stearns is being laid to rest in good company.