It was perhaps one of the most emotionally charged meetings ever attended by Wall Street's finest. Just a few days after JPMorgan Chase had made its initial offer to acquire Bear Stearns for $2-a-share, some 400 Bear Senior Managing Directors congregated at the firm's New York HQ building to be briefed on the takeover.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is thought to have been advised to keep away as Bear's security staff just couldn't guarantee his safety. But Dimon was determined to show up and win over the minds, if not the hearts, of the seasoned Bear professionals who greeted him with a collective frosty stare.

The meeting was being webcast to all Bear staff via the firm's intranet. Dimon was at his best - serious yet sympathetic, supportive yet determined and reassuring yet realistic. Accompanying Dimon up front were Bear CEO Alan Schwartz and Steven Black and William Winters, the co-heads of JPMorgan's investment banking division. The atmosphere was charged with emotion, as many present had lost most of their net worth and faced the prospect of an uncertain future. Even worse, however, these (mostly) men had lost face - the firm they loved had fallen without much of a fight. The once feisty Bear Stearns had expired with a whimper not a bang.

The Q&A session kicked off, and Dimon soon referred to the JPMorgan takeover as a 'shotgun wedding'. Out from the crowd came the firm, if emotional, lone voice of a long time Bear executive: 'Yes it was a shotgun wedding, but it was a shotgun wedding to a rapist. OK, so the girl was lying naked in the street, but you went ahead and did it anyway'. The response was a resounding silence, which seemed to last an eternity. After perhaps 30 seconds, the meeting moved on, the anguished Bear executive's statement ignored.

Several days later, Dimon upped his firm's offer for Bear to $10-a-share. Many felt that he had no need to do this - Bear's shareholders had no real alternative to a JPMorgan rescue, despite talk of other bidders on the horizon. Some say that Dimon was affected by that meeting with Bear executives more than he let on. They claim that it was in response to the raw emotions he witnessed that day that he tried to reach out to Bear staff and raised his offer price (despite saying at the same meeting that he had no intention of doing so).

In the meantime, things have settled down at Bear, although everything looks likely to kick-off again next week, as staff will start to find out whether they will still have a job. And once again, Dimon has delivered. Retention packages for those JPMorgan wants to keep are pretty decent - Bear staff will receive a stock award, which will vest in 3 years, equivalent to an employee's 2007 bonus. And for those administrative staff who are asked to stay on to transition the merger through (the likes of some IT professionals, etc), they will effectively receive double pay when they do leave, in addition to the usual severance package. The unfortunates, however, will be those who are told that their services are just no longer required - they will (after collective consultation in the UK) leave with a few quid / dollars in their pockets and in the knowledge that they will probably have to wait for the markets to recover before they can get back into the industry.

Jamie Dimon, though, has come out of this episode with an enhanced reputation. He moved quickly to JPMorgan's advantage, navigated cautiously through the maelstrom of emotions that came with the demise of Bear, and is pressing forward in a firm, yet understanding manner. As for most of Bear's staff, the end will not be easy. For many, no firm will ever be good enough for them - as no other firm is Bear Stearns. No amount of cash or retention monies can compensate for the unwelcome changes forced upon them. No amount of sweet talk will alleviate the pain they feel for the ignoble end that befell the firm they loved.

Open Letter From A Bear Stearns Staffer

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