As Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Faced Liquidation its Head Manager’s Golf Game Did Not Suffer

As a sub-prime mortgage hedge fund managed by Bear Stearns encountered margin calls and was on the brink of liquidation, the situation apparently did not faze the golfing of its chief executive, John Cayne.

Weather permitting, Mr. Cayne hops a helicopter from Manhattan to a golf club in Ocean Township, N.J., landing on the grounds. According to posting on an online golf database, Cayne continued to golf through the weeks in June as one of his firm’s hedge funds was evaporating.

On June 14, the day Bear Stearns reported a 10 percent drop in its operating earnings for the second quarter, Mr. Cayne played a round of golf, shooting a 96, according to the online database. The next day, he played again.

The following week, as Merrill Lynch and others pressured Bear Stearns to increase the collateral on loans they had made to its sinking fund, Mr. Cayne was back on the course. That day, he shot a 98. The next day, in the biggest rescue of a hedge fund in almost a decade, Bear Stearns committed $3.2 billion to bail out the fund (later revised to $1.6 billion) That day, Mr. Cayne did not miss his golf game and shot a 97.

A spokeswoman for Bear Stearns said that Mr. Cayne flies down after work on Thursdays and plays an evening round of golf. On Fridays, he plays a round and works from his New Jersey home, where he is in constant touch with the office, she said.

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