James Cayne, CEO for Bear Stearns Rise and Fall, Dies at 87 (2)

James Cayne, the cigar-puffing college dropout who parlayed a stint as a professional bridge player into a job as a bond broker on Wall Street, where he led Bear Stearns Cos. to record profits, then to the brink of collapse, has died. He was 87.

He died on Tuesday at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, days after suffering a stroke, said his wife, Pat.

James “Jimmy” Cayne in 2010.

Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg

Until 2007, Cayne, known as Jimmy, was one of Wall Street’s brightest stars. Bear Stearns, the fifth-biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, had seen its profit surge 40% in fiscal ...