Bear Stearns alum twice burned

Few things are more cringe-inducing than watching an old star try to make a comeback —a nd fail. Former Bear Stearns Chief Financial Officer Samuel Molinaro's return to Wall Street was foiled when Pali Capital, the investment firm that was just about to name him chief executive, filed for bankruptcy. Pali Holdings, the firm's parent company, filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York after a last-ditch effort to sell the broker-dealer to Braver Stern Securities fell apart. Mr. Molinaro, who had spent more than 20 years at the late Bear Stearns, was helping with the negotiations and would have become CEO of the combined firm, had the deal gone through. But with just $716,300 in assets and nearly $32 million in debt, according to the filing, Pali Capital couldn't consummate the deal. Over the past two years the investment boutique had lost about $40 million, according to reports, and quickly burned through $3 million in emergency bridge financing secured in November. The largest unsecured creditor was Panama-based Mandeville Holding Ventures Co., which was owed $20 million, according to the filing. Pali has gone through four chief executives over the past year and a half, ever since one of its founders, Brad Reifler, resigned in a dispute with co-founder Bert Cohen and shareholders. Mr. Reifler—who founded the firm in the mid-1990s while working at Refco, the disgraced commodities firm founded by his grandfather—was accused of siphoning millions of dollars from Pali for his own pet projects. A nasty lawsuit between the two men in 2008 ended in Mr. Reifler's departure. Pali Capital, which had as many 250 employees at its peak, was probably best known for its two star analysts, tech guru Walter Piecyk and media maven Richard Greenfield, who together led the firm's research department. The pair jumped ship in March, taking jobs at Manhattan-based broker-dealer BTIG. [This story, which was written by Hilary Potkewitz, first appeared In Crain's New York Business, a sister publication of Investmentnews.]