Washington Mutual Seized by Feds, Assets Bought by JPMorgan

Biggest U.S. bank failure ever: Washington Mutual, which struggled to find a buyer, was closed by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC, for "insufficient liquidity" and being "unsound." The government orchestrated JPMorgan Chase's purchase of WaMu deposits for just $1.9 billion. WaMu's is the country's biggest savings and loan and has $310 billion in assets, but was affected by the mortgage crisis. Also, while shareholders and bondholds will be wiped out, the NY Times says Wamu customers "are unlikely to be affected." (Also, the FDIC insures deposits up to $100,000). Earlier this year, WaMu rejected JPMorgan's takeover at $4/share--an analyst told Bloomberg News, "JPMorgan is getting a steal compared with what they were going to pay. It's very tragic.''

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By Jen Chung in News on September 25, 2008 11:08 PM

Comments [rss]

Mutuelle santé

I think that we must scrap bank, and just keep our money in a safe at home, you never know wht they are doing with other people`s money and in the end might just go out of business.

Mr Mel

Will the government prosecute the wrongdoers. This tragedy just didn't happen, it was orchestrated, it was fraud that could bring the country down, worse than any terrorist could. Jail time is the answer, the threat of doing hard time can sometimes bring out the truth.

matty

I thought Francis Fukuyama predicted history ending after Regan...

robingee

epic fail

zodak

i guess all those white bankers they held in the basement escaped & ruined everything.

ides_of_march

These things tend to happen to banks that lend money to people who can't pay it back. Time to get back to time honored lending practices based on economic reality, not multiculturalist dogma.

EastRiver

WaMu certainly doesn't help things but the bailout is the big news. And RIMM certainly isn't helping the tech sector.

zodak

"mr. fukuyama, you were so wrong as to be right: it's the end of history!"

It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed. The year is 2261.

gossipgirl

I feel like the shit is just pelting the fan.

kapusta

"It's very tragic." wrong. slaughtering children in an immoral oil war in Iraq and Afghanistan is tragic.

Gothamist_Cynic

I'm so glad I ditched Wamu a while ago.

Kojak

True EastRiver, but this combined with the news about the bailout will still hammer the markets.

virgil

I had twelve kajillion semolians in my WaMu checking account, but I think it will just about fit inside my mattress, though it may be a bit lumpy. I would ask you all to please disregard any clues I may have left about my address on these comment boards.

so1337

It was going to happen. No surprise. The government shut down WaMu to give it to a holder (JPMorgan). Certainly now the $700b will find its way to Wall street. Tomorrow will be all hype.

bagelman

mr. fukuyama, you were so wrong as to be right: it's the end of history!

jterry121

Time for you Wall Street scumbags to finally get a real job. Like Digging graves for Wall Street scumbags

babyhitler

thank god. It was a chore taking out 200k from them. I still had 2 accounts left with ~30k and was going to get it out later but i was too lazy. My bank was Dime but Wamu bought them, and now it's gonna be chase. Remember when banking was an industry too be respected? that was just last month. Now it's reviled too hell. Sucks for finance majors. no soup for you.