[Shhhh! James Cayne of Bear Stearns, Craig Dubow of Gannett]Imploding investment firm Bear Stearns did more than just drag Gannett's shares down today, along with just about every other stock. Bear's meltdown over the past four months is a case study in why journalists need to keep the pressure on self-serving CEOs:
Nov. 1. The Wall Street Journal says Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne was goofing off at golf courses and bridge tournaments, while two multibillion-dollar Bear-managed hedge funds lost all their value in the credit crunch. Cayne, in a huffy defense e-mailed to employees, says: "I stand by the record of success the firm has had over the 14 years that I have had the privilege of leading this great organization. I remain, as I have been for many years, intensely focused on our business. Thank you for your continued dedication to Bear Stearns, and don't be distracted by the noise. I am certainly not."
Jan. 8. Cayne steps down as CEO. "The changes have been prompted by a mounting crisis at Bear Stearns, which has historically specialized in mortgage-backed securities,'' the U.K.'s Guardian says. "The firm has written off $1.9 billion in losses relating to last year's meltdown in the home loans industry and analysts have questioned its future as an independent entity."
Today. Bear Stearns stuns Wall Street, disclosing that it turned to a rival bank and the federal government for an 11th-hour bailout to prevent its collapse. Investors are spooked. Stock markets tank. Gannett shares tumble more than 5%, closing at $28.43.
Nov. 1. The Wall Street Journal says Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne was goofing off at golf courses and bridge tournaments, while two multibillion-dollar Bear-managed hedge funds lost all their value in the credit crunch. Cayne, in a huffy defense e-mailed to employees, says: "I stand by the record of success the firm has had over the 14 years that I have had the privilege of leading this great organization. I remain, as I have been for many years, intensely focused on our business. Thank you for your continued dedication to Bear Stearns, and don't be distracted by the noise. I am certainly not."
Jan. 8. Cayne steps down as CEO. "The changes have been prompted by a mounting crisis at Bear Stearns, which has historically specialized in mortgage-backed securities,'' the U.K.'s Guardian says. "The firm has written off $1.9 billion in losses relating to last year's meltdown in the home loans industry and analysts have questioned its future as an independent entity."
Today. Bear Stearns stuns Wall Street, disclosing that it turned to a rival bank and the federal government for an 11th-hour bailout to prevent its collapse. Investors are spooked. Stock markets tank. Gannett shares tumble more than 5%, closing at $28.43.
And where's Cayne, now the firm's chairman? With his company's very existence threatened, today and yesterday, the unrepentant Cayne has been playing in the North American Bridge Championship, in Detroit, the WSJ's Deal Journal blog says.
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Sonofabitch. I don't make my sales budget and my career is history...Hello...Gannett dialing.
ReplyDeleteThis ass destroys the mortgage market...and goes and plays golf.
How about 10 years in jail to smoke some more pot.
Calling Hillary...time to bail out Gannett too!!!!
Craig, how about another $7 million for the cottage house?
No axe to grind, my foot! You've gone over the deep end Jim. This is a bash Gannett at any cost blog. Take your buyout, leave your colleagues doing your work, and then inflict as much punishment on the company as you can. That really helps all those ex-colleagues of yours. I'm done reading this blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you feel that way, and I hope you'll reconsider.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, just today, I was thinking my blog was feeling awfully grim and angry. But that's a reflection of the news cycle during the past 24 hours. The company can't disclose big pay packages for top executives in this environment, without expecting blow back.
Still, as I've said before, I try to strike a balance on this blog -- especially in terms of subjects, good and bad. I'm always open to fresh ideas, stories, features, techniques, etc., employed at Gannett newspapers and TV stations.
In fact, on several occasions, I've more or less begged management/editors and others to send me examples of some of the good work I know is going on throughout Gannett. My recent plea was on March 2, and you can read it here: http://tinyurl.com/2taka8. Since then, nearly two weeks later, I haven't received a single suggestion.
I'll keep inviting management to offer those examples of good stuff going on. But as the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but ...
Bravo Jim!
ReplyDeleteFoughettabout 5:04 - who obviously has his rose colored glasses permanently attached to his noggin. If it weren't for you and this tip sheet thousands of people working for Gannett would be in the dark. Many folks go to work, report their beats, edit their stories, lay out pages, post to Web sites and know NOTHING about those folks earning millions at corporate while people at the 'information centers' try to put a product with rocks and sticks. I work up here, I've been to the $150 per head Christmas party - I see the fancy cars, the concierge service, the other perks, the wasteful spending. It's not Gannett bashing - it's the truth unfiltered - and if you can't handle the truth, well then, don't read it! Keep your head in the sand - and when Gannett start's laying off even more newsroom employees this year ala Sam Zell (and it's coming) - maybe then you'll come back to the blog. I applaud you Jim - and maybe, just maybe, the reason you're not getting any positive feedback is because there isn't any!
What a foolish post by you Jim. If it is so bad at Gannett, why don't you all leave and get other jobs? No one is making you stay here!!! Leave, get another job if it is so miserable. Jesus, you are a bunch of whiners.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is that you are all so lame that you can't find another cushy job? Are you afraid of leaving your own cushy world at Gannett?
Hey Jim, Have you found a job yet? Why don't you call some of the other newspaper companies and see if they will hire you?
I can't believe anyone would stay at a job if it sucks so badly. Do something about it.
You are all so tough, but I don't see anyone doing anything about it.
QUIT!!!
AMEN!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf I quit, then it would take me at least a few weeks to find something new to whine about. That's just no good for my constitution.
ReplyDeleteJim, your blog is spot-on and especially good for Gannetteers who read it.
ReplyDeleteThe light you bring shows what’s going on, and for many, that they’re not alone in their concerns. Sadly, its doubtful things will improve anytime soon as the same suits who drove Gannett into the hole, are now entrusted with bringing it out.
And, in regard to those who say get out...I did just that. If people think it's bad in the ranks, they should have had the view I had from the OC/publisher level. For those who blame all Gannett’s problems on the internet and economic “head winds”, dream on.
It’s about leadership. And, it’s also about those who blindly accept the next best thing, which lately has been copying what others did ten years ago.
A note to those that don't like these posts. Quit reading them. Just like you say we can find other jobs, you can go to the company website and read all the b.s. blather you want.
ReplyDeleteA thought: I can certainly understand why management's critics choose to post comments anonymously here. But how come people who seem to be management's defenders also post anonymously?
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a B.S. question; I'm really interested in everyone's thoughts.
A fair question Jim. I think that folks who defend management can get in just as much trouble. Only official spokespersons are supposed to speak for the company and posting a pro-company comment here is too much like speaking for the company.
ReplyDeleteI think all the people bashing Jim for "focusing on the negative stuff" sound eerily like readers who bash the media for only putting crime and sex on the front page and an "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality. Odd.
ReplyDeleteSidenote: Does this mean we can update the "fiddling while X burns" idiom with "playing bridge while X burns"?
Attention haters: Gannett Blog provides a crucial outlet for the many voices of dissent and critical thinking that are stifled within that (now-sputtering) profit machine masquerading as a newspaper company. Anyone who doesn't see all these Corporate initiatives like the "Information Center," "Real Life, Real News" and "News 2000" as attempts to placate Wall Street is naive.
ReplyDeleteFreedom of speech. This website would have been invaluable ten years ago to voice ones concerns, complaints, insights, etc.
ReplyDeleteWho are you going to blow steam off? Try Delores Pinto...and get that glazed-over eye response!! That body language was pretty typical and revealing.
Suck up all the crap, put your head down and mumble. Reality, do more with less while we wait for the recession to claim more careers.