Robert B. Stearns (1888-1954) was a prominent American financier. He co-founded investment bank

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

in 1923.

Early life

Stearns was born in a Jewish family in 1888 to Virginia (née Michaels) and Isaac, founder of

Stern's Stern's was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey. The chain was in business for more than 130 years. In 2001, Stern's parent company Federated Department Stores opted to retire the Stern's bran ...

Department Stores. He graduated from

Phillips Academy, Andover Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a private, co-educational college-preparatory school for boarding and day students located in Andover, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The academy enrolls a ...

in 1906 and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1910. He may have changed his name when he enrolled at Andover, whose headmaster at the time was Alfred Stearns.

Wall Street career

After working some years in Europe, Stearns worked at the brokerage J.J. Danzig & Co. before founding

with partners Joseph Ainslie Bear and Harold C. Mayer in 1923. He became a member of the New York Curb Exchange, later the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

in 1929, and would eventually be its chairman.

Death

Stearns married twice. His first wife was Bernice Marks, daughter of Manhattan Borough President, Marcus M. Marks; they had three children, Veronica Stearns Lamy (married to actor Douglas N. Lamy), Pamela Stearns Baron, and Roland B. Stearns, before divorcing. His second wife was Margaret Allen. Stearns died at

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fa ...

in Manhattan on 14 December 1954, aged 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Robert B. 1888 births 1954 deaths American bankers American Jews American people of German-Jewish descent Phillips Academy alumni Bear Stearns people