US investors on Monday reacted with a shrug to the emergence of Joseph Lewis, a secretive British-born billionaire, as the largest shareholder in Bear Stearns, the beleaguered US investment bank.
Bear shares, down 35 per cent this year following the collapse of two of its in-house hedge funds, initially perked up on news of Mr Lewis’s 7 per cent stake, but quickly gave up much of their gains.
