During the 2008 financial crisis, Bear Stearns was sold to which of the following banks?

The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession. It was subsequently sold to JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Over the course of seven days, the nation's fifth largest investment bank went from being profitable and seemingly overcapitalized, to being forcibly led to the auction block by the U.S. government. Almost less than a week after trading for $65.00 per share, the 85-year-old investment bank Bear Stearns could garner no more than $2.00 a share. Bear's bread-and-butter hedge-fund clients had furiously pulled their deposits out of the bank's prime brokerage unit, leaving Bear without the necessary liquidity to survive.

While the price was subsequently negotiated up to $10 a share, the Bear Stearns' story serves as a valuable reminder to anyone in finance to avoid complacency and liquidity risk. In the end, Bear Stearns was rescued from bankruptcy by the deal that it made with JP Morgan Chase & Co. on March 16, 2008. But, Bear still became the first major casualty of the 2008 financial crisis.