Bear execs lack golden parachutes as stock plan crunched

By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barring some unexpected boardroom generosity by JPMorgan Chase & Co, executives at Bear Stearns Cos may find that their walking away money has been crunched by the credit crisis.

Bear stock soared to a record high of $172.61 in January last year as Wall Street's mortgage and buyout booms peaked, but those shares have plunged as the bank played a leading role in fueling a subprime mortgage crisis that continues to inflict damage on financial markets.

Bear Stearns' shares, which sank to $30.85 Friday on worries the bank was quickly running out of cash and needed a Federal Reserve bailout, now fetch just $2 each under JPMorgan's bailout late on Sunday.

The plunging shares, plus a lack of the normal payout expected when a company is taken over, known as 'golden parachutes', delivers a serious blow to the bankers, traders and other executives worldwide at a firm that has long encouraged its above-average levels of inside ownership.

"The current stock ownership by executive officers reflects a significant personal investment in the company by those who are most responsible for the company's future success," the bank said in a proxy statement.

Employees own around 30 percent of the bank.

Yet loyalty to the firm has cost employees as Bear's fortunes turned south.

According to Bear's recent proxy statement, the executive committee members at the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank owned about 9 percent of the firm's outstanding stock at the end of January.