We’re still going through the Vanity Fair article on Bear which blames, among others, Citadel, SAC Capital, and Goldman Sachs for bringing down the 85 year-old firm. But before we start pointing fingers, let’s take a second to note the one party writer Bryan Burrough doesn’t think had a hand in blowing the place to smithereens. And in fact, if I may be so bold as to read between the lines, seems to applaud for coming to BSC’s rescue, albeit too late.

At 2:07 came shocking news: the first mention that New York governor Eliot Spitzer had had dealings with a prostitution ring. That news shoved Bear Stearns out of CNBC’s headlines, much to the relief of the firm’s executives.

That’s right people– Ashley Dupree. And, now that you mention it, Eliot Spitzer. Clearly his admission of patronizing hookers was timed. And try this one on for size– how different do you think this whole thing would’ve played out if S ‘n D had gone the extra mile and performed some sort of a duet that fateful day?
Bringing Down Bear [Vanity Fair]

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Comments (56)

  1. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 11:48 AM

    I think Vanity Fair writes these type or articles for the publicity. First the Monsanto article, then Bill Clinton, and now Bear Stearns.
    Since when are they an authority on big businesses? Aren’t they supposed to be a women’s fashion magazine?
    I find their reliability very questionable.

  2. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM

    ya think? I want to hear what Star mag has to say though. They really ripped Soros a ne wone inthe fashion Do’s and Don’ts last month!OMG LOLZ

  3. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:08 PM

    I do not subscribe to the “Ya think?!?!?” exclamation. It is to much like a verbal snare and is used to agree but at the same time admonish the original speaker. It does replace, “No shit, Sherlock.” but at the same time adds verbal and tonal insult.
    Now I am hearing another expletory word: “Really?!?!?” as in the Travelocity ad and numerous television show references like on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. It gives me the fantods.
    ~The Ghost of Hunter Thompson while painting the Ghost of Mark Twain’s parlor.

  4. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:26 PM

    Vanity Fair is not a women’s fashion magazine. The editor (Graydon Carer)thinks of the magazine as a trend-setting publication mixing coverage of Hollywood, crime, and politics. Carter’s particulary devoted to the cause of global warming.
    Some of their articles are more credible than others.
    They kind of lost me when they ran an article on whether a Dallas man named Worthington was the illegitimate son of JFK. (Guess what; the evidence didn’t look very solid.)
    I read the Bear Stearns story. Not as good as the Wall Street Journal’s account.

  5. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:34 PM

    I don’t know much about Vanity Fair. But you have to give credit to Bryan Burrough. Hes the man who wrote “Barbarians at the Gate” which is one of the best books ever written on financial history, the eighties and the LBO boom. The book is amazing and I bet many of us have read it. Didn’t it also win the Pulitzer.
    And keep in mind that after many years of relative anonymity after the Watergate breakthrough Carl Bernstein also became an editor at Vanity Fair. So they have some big writers on board.
    It’s just a matter of time before 10 versions of the Bear Stearns faisco are published. Bet Gas-bagar-ino’s is going to be one of them. Jim Cayne can get a multi-million dollar advance to write his version as well.

  6. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:35 PM

    I don’t know much about Vanity Fair. But you have to give credit to Bryan Burrough. Hes the man who wrote “Barbarians at the Gate” which is one of the best books ever written on financial history, the eighties and the LBO boom. The book is amazing and I bet many of us have read it. Didn’t it also win the Pulitzer.
    And keep in mind that after many years of relative anonymity after the Watergate breakthrough Carl Bernstein also became an editor at Vanity Fair. So they have some big writers on board.
    It’s just a matter of time before 10 versions of the Bear Stearns faisco are published. Bet Gas-bagar-ino’s is going to be one of them. Jim Cayne can get a multi-million dollar advance to write his version as well.

  7. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:39 PM

    12:34,
    Hey asshole. If you don’t know much about Vanity Fair, then how the heck do you know about how Carl Bernstein is the editor of the magazine?

  8. Posted by Lowly Assistant | June 30, 2008 at 12:47 PM

    You bitches are ruthless!
    Agree with 12:35. Burrough has a great voice and major contacts. Also, he used to work for WSJ…so everyone, just take a long breath and relax. Twice.

  9. Posted by Anal_yst | June 30, 2008 at 12:53 PM

    @ 12:39
    I dunno, google? Wikipedia? Company website maybe?
    Watch who you call asshole, buddy

  10. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 12:56 PM

    geez, it was a decent article, everybody get on with life now

  11. Posted by Anal_yst | June 30, 2008 at 12:57 PM

    By that, just to clarify, I mean, don’t be so quick to criticize, buddy, chillax

  12. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:02 PM

    We don’t read books; we print them.
    ~McGraw Hill

  13. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:06 PM

    I don’t wear glasses, I empty them-

  14. Posted by Lowly Assistant | June 30, 2008 at 1:10 PM

    “I don’t wear glasses, I empty them”
    So fucking stupid, yet so fucking good!

  15. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:10 PM

    bull shit article, same as proxy, WSJ 3 day piece, and basic stories on major papers

  16. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:14 PM

    I’m not your buddy, guy!

  17. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:17 PM

    @12:53…..I’m not your buddy, pal

  18. Posted by Anal_yst | June 30, 2008 at 1:17 PM

    I’m not your guy, friend!

  19. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:18 PM

    I’m not your friend, buddy

  20. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:19 PM

    Interesting article.
    The gossip posted here has more cred than the shit they “report” at CNBC…oh yeah, they are reporters and serious people, like that Faber fellow.His unprofessional questioning of Scwartz was unreal;CNBC is run by tools, for gossip whores, and relied on by uber smartypants hedgies, who are actually no smarter than your average Tim Sykes douchebag.
    At least with this place you don’t pretend to be anything more than you are.

  21. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:22 PM

    The Goldman angle (refusing to do biz as counters to BSC) was the tipping point.
    That says nothing about the failed policies and greedy SOB’s that put themselves in that position to be a poster boy for over-leveraged, hold and hope investment strategies.
    The fact that those failed policies did not actually cause the end of BSC…the letter from GS ultimately placed them into the final position. That they were able to survive as long as it did is ridiculous but one simple letter is what ultimately “caused” it to finally implode
    The real story is that GS has enjoyed far too much influence in the markets for too long.
    MS

  22. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:23 PM

    WTF!!! Jefferey Epstein is going to jail and I have the news broken to me by Power Lunch and not by Dealbreaker? That’s twice this month now CNBC scooped DB on gossip (the Tobias settlement obv being the first one)

  23. Posted by HAM05 | June 30, 2008 at 1:34 PM

    what?? thats it, im moving to the balkans.
    if we live in a country where a man of means cant furiously masturbate into towels in front of 16yo hotties, then i dont know man…were losing it

  24. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:34 PM

    As illiterate as 1:19 pm Jun 30 is….I like what he believes….I see it, too. Most CNBC reports have an agenda attached. Go FOX Business and Liz Claman.

  25. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 1:37 PM

    ham05 that is awesome

  26. Posted by golden girl | June 30, 2008 at 1:42 PM

    Actually, Vanity Fair has traditionally had very good (and often juicy) coverage of business related scandals and other stories. Clearly they’re limited to the monthly publication cycle, but their strength in covering some of these stories in a long-form non-fiction narrative is one of the things that got me so excited about the launch of Portfolio. With a few exceptions (notably the website) Portfolio has been something of a let-down; I continue to think that most of the VF finance/business related stories are superior.

  27. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:00 PM

    Long live Lehman.

  28. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:01 PM

    What is with the whole “cred” thing???? Who authorized “credibility” to be shortened?
    If a couple was having trouble conceiving, would you send him/her to a “fert” clinic???
    ~Fake William Safire

  29. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:17 PM

    Vanity Fair needs to merge with Lehman to survive.

  30. Posted by Anal_yst | June 30, 2008 at 2:21 PM

    @ Ham
    Couldn’t agree more. Already have plans in motion to relocate to the compound in the Caribbean, ’tis a sad, sad day…

  31. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:34 PM

    @2:17 so the new corp will be Vanity Man? Or Lehman Fair – sounds like a British festival…

  32. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:38 PM

    Graydon Carter is a Canadian tool. You should hear him when he gets his wank on about how George Bush is Hitler, Bushcheney McHalliburton he destroyed the Constitution, blah, blah, blah.

  33. Posted by NotNasser | June 30, 2008 at 2:39 PM

    guest at 12 PM.
    They ripped him “a ne wone”?
    Is that how they say it in Glasgow?

  34. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:39 PM

    Girl? Your “entire backend” is down? Oh, girl, you know Smoove B can help with that!
    Smoove B
    Onion Columnist

  35. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:45 PM

    whos the anchor on street signs right now, never seen her before

  36. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:46 PM

    No new articles in 3 hours?? Who died?

  37. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 2:48 PM

    Bess is staging a FREE EPSTEIN protest.
    topless of course.

  38. Posted by Anal_yst | June 30, 2008 at 2:52 PM

    @ 2:46
    As Bess pointed out, their ability to publish has been hampered by the cyber-cunning of hacker mastermind Pandit

  39. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:00 PM

    @bess okay, thanks for following up I was really concerned, I do rely on Dealbreaker as my primary source for smut and I appreciate how traumatic this must be for you as well

  40. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:02 PM

    FREE RALPH!

  41. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:02 PM

    LEH is the new BSC, stock is tanking! I never knew one LEH person I liked, bunch of arrogant jerkoffs, however doesnt mean I wanna see the firm go under. I want them to suffer their own private hell.

  42. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:05 PM

    @2:48 I raise Jr in honor of Bess doing that.

  43. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:10 PM

    a day without the Breaker.
    youporn clicks up 300%
    hurry back. we miss you.
    -retail

  44. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:14 PM

    I heard that is was mayo that brought Bear Stearns down. The cafeteria ran out and people panicked.

  45. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:16 PM

    so did the Carner go home already? or is he just on extended lunch at the P-cat?

  46. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:20 PM

    Where’s mommy (Bess). I need some attention.

  47. Posted by FUNdamental | June 30, 2008 at 3:21 PM

    They found Steve Israel hiding in the “back-end” which has now been down all day!
    Free Steve Israel!!!!
    (so we can have dealbreaker back)

  48. Posted by FUNdamental | June 30, 2008 at 3:24 PM

    @FUN – and by steve, i mean sam. You know not the democrat from NY, but the hedge fund manager who killed himself. oops.

  49. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:26 PM

    Dick Fuld doesnt make money, he prints it.

  50. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:30 PM

    What were all the feet guys up to this weekend?

  51. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:31 PM

    The biggest question right now, though, is: Where is Erin Burnett? Gone for the whole week? Is she finally getting breast augmentation? I like this Aussie babe Amanda Drury.

  52. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 3:37 PM

    As long as you don’t look at her face.

  53. Posted by Anal_yst | June 30, 2008 at 3:49 PM

    amanda drury = love (or something kinda, but not really close to it)

  54. Posted by guest | June 30, 2008 at 4:28 PM

    Amanda loves mayo

  55. Posted by guest | July 1, 2008 at 2:01 AM

    The unfortunate reality of the CNBC impact on Bear is simple- Gasbagarumor. The guy milked Jimmy Cayne for years and then turned on him like he does all of his sources. They name Russell Sherman in the Vanity Fair article. Just ask Russell or his boss Elizabeth Ventura what they think of Gasbagarumor – the dumbest human being on television. The nicest thing they will call him is snake, scumbag, liar, moron and so on. They also make a very good point. Gasbag makes stories up for his own self promotion and frequently leaves out both sides of the story for his own personal benefit. He is as stupid as he is inarticulate and every pr person in the industry refuses to deal with the thug. Ditto for their bosses. In fact, Cayne, Thain, Mack, Diamon…..Blankfein, Niederauer,Dougan,…..think he is the scum of the earth and will fire any of their people who have anything to do with him. In fact, a number of industry folks have learned that lesson the hard way. You’re FIRED! Are you listening Mike Mayo????

  56. Posted by guest | July 1, 2008 at 8:11 AM

    im not sure that’s true

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