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redsamurai
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I mean this is the free market........you either sink or swim right?
Fed Races to Rescue Bear Stearns
- Thread starter anthrax
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Spartacus
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Meet the English mega money mogul who lost 1 billion dollars
BY PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
Tuesday, March 18th 2008, 4:00 AM
Joseph Lewis earned the nickname "The Boxer" after decades of aggressive deal making - but Bear Stearns' meltdown knocked this Wall Street prizefighter to the canvas.
The reclusive 71-year-old British billionaire is the biggest individual loser in the Bear disaster, suffering a staggering loss of $1.2 billion.
While he's known for his shrewd currency investments and gutsy real estate moves around the world, Lewis made a disastrous mistake last year when he began scooping up Bear Stearns shares at an average price of $107, betting they were undervalued. Now, with JPMorgan Chase buying battered Bear for just $2 a share, his investment is all but wiped out.
Because of Lewis' vast wealth - Forbes estimates his net worth at $3 billion - he can absorb the blow far better than the thousands of Bear Stearns employees and shareholders who lost smaller fortunes. But his bad bet may give investors pause the next time he tries to do a deal.
"It's never easy to see $1 billion evaporate," said Douglas McMahon, a managing director at Tavistock Group, Lewis' investment company. "The good news is Joe has been so successful, this doesn't change any of his investment activity."
Lewis, who was a Bear Stearns client and friend of ex-Bear Stearns boss Jimmy Cayne, bought his huge stake with cash.
"It was not leveraged or tied to any other assets. It is an isolated loss," McMahon said.
A high school dropout who still speaks with a Cockney accent, London-born Lewis turned his family's small cafe into a restaurant empire. But he would make the bulk of his fortune in currency trading.
Looking to avoid Britain's capital gains tax, Lewis moved to the Bahamas, where he is the second-biggest land owner behind the Bahamian government and lives in a mansion in the exclusive Lyford Cay enclave.
Lewis' fall from grace shows how treacherous investing has become in light of the subprime mortgage crisis, New York money manager Mike Holland said. "The smartest investor can lose a lot of money when they get exposed to these crazy times," Holland said.
BY PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
Tuesday, March 18th 2008, 4:00 AM
Joseph Lewis earned the nickname "The Boxer" after decades of aggressive deal making - but Bear Stearns' meltdown knocked this Wall Street prizefighter to the canvas.
The reclusive 71-year-old British billionaire is the biggest individual loser in the Bear disaster, suffering a staggering loss of $1.2 billion.
While he's known for his shrewd currency investments and gutsy real estate moves around the world, Lewis made a disastrous mistake last year when he began scooping up Bear Stearns shares at an average price of $107, betting they were undervalued. Now, with JPMorgan Chase buying battered Bear for just $2 a share, his investment is all but wiped out.
Because of Lewis' vast wealth - Forbes estimates his net worth at $3 billion - he can absorb the blow far better than the thousands of Bear Stearns employees and shareholders who lost smaller fortunes. But his bad bet may give investors pause the next time he tries to do a deal.
"It's never easy to see $1 billion evaporate," said Douglas McMahon, a managing director at Tavistock Group, Lewis' investment company. "The good news is Joe has been so successful, this doesn't change any of his investment activity."
Lewis, who was a Bear Stearns client and friend of ex-Bear Stearns boss Jimmy Cayne, bought his huge stake with cash.
"It was not leveraged or tied to any other assets. It is an isolated loss," McMahon said.
A high school dropout who still speaks with a Cockney accent, London-born Lewis turned his family's small cafe into a restaurant empire. But he would make the bulk of his fortune in currency trading.
Looking to avoid Britain's capital gains tax, Lewis moved to the Bahamas, where he is the second-biggest land owner behind the Bahamian government and lives in a mansion in the exclusive Lyford Cay enclave.
Lewis' fall from grace shows how treacherous investing has become in light of the subprime mortgage crisis, New York money manager Mike Holland said. "The smartest investor can lose a lot of money when they get exposed to these crazy times," Holland said.
