Bear Stearns collapses - Fox News: "JPMorgan Chase to Purchase Bear Stearns for $2 a Share" That's quite a bargain for the 85-year old company, a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis and disappearing liquidity. Still, it's a better deal than the storied Barings Bank got after rogue trader Nick Leeson forced England's oldest investment bank into insolvency; Barings was sold to the Dutch financial company ING for one British pound.