Bear Stearns was under tremendous pressure on the weekend of June 17. Two hedge funds managed by the company were near collapse.
What did Richard Marin, chief of the asset management unit that oversees the funds, do? He went to the movies. Then he blogged about the film, Mr. Brooks. (Marin gave it a thumbs down.)
“I had been working 24-7 on this thing. Taking a small amount of time to clear my head seemed reasonable,” he told the New York Times.
We suspect that when the Times discovered the blog, whimofiron.blogspot.com, it was open for public viewing. But by this morning, readership was by invitation only.
Update: Bear Stearns replaced Marin on June 29, naming Jeffrey B. Lane to head the unit. Marin now serves as an adviser to Lane.
On the web
A New Genre on Wall St.: Bailout Blog – New York Times (registration required)