Reuters - Sold! Bear Stearns T-shirt gone for $151.76

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Sold! Bear Stearns T-shirt gone for $151.76

Tuesday, Mar 25, 2008 5:6PM UTC

By Jennifer Ablan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A used T-shirt bearing the Bear Stearns logo has sold for $151.76 online, worth about 14 or 15 shares in the once venerable Wall Street investment bank.

Bear Stearns shirts and other trinkets have been snatched up in recent days on eBay's Internet auction site.

This particular extra-large men's T-shirt, blue, with a white Bear Stearns logo, attracted over 1,600 visitors and sold for $151.76 on Monday night, a price no doubt prompted by the sudden fall of the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank.

The Bear Stearns takeover by JPMorgan Chase & Co has generated public interest reminiscent of Enron's demise. Other auction items include umbrellas, coffee mugs, cafeteria cards, hard hats and a pewter reproduction of Bear Stearns' midtown Manhattan office building, which was included in the fire sale.

"Be the first to get your paws on classic Bear Stearns memorabilia," read one post auctioning a miniature plastic toy bear that was going for $28 on Tuesday morning.

Another Bear Stearns bear wearing a business tie attracted over 1,400 visits and a high bid of about $150.

The T-shirt seller, Jennifer Cseplo of Dublin, Ohio, said her husband got the shirt as a gift four years ago and wore it to work out in.

"I thought I would get $20 for it and be happy. This is pretty crazy," Cseplo said.

On March 16, JPMorgan Chase said it would acquire its rival the Bear Stearns Co Inc. for only $2 per share, in a deal brokered by the Federal Reserve aimed at heading off a bankruptcy and a spreading crisis of confidence in the global financial system.

On Monday, JPMorgan raised its offer to about $10 a share to appease angry stockholders who vowed to fight the original deal. Bear Stearns traded at $10.80 a share near midday on Tuesday.

(Editing by Alan Elsner and Daniel Trotta)