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The pressure from shareholders finally reached Bear Stearns (BSC) CEO James Cayne, and the 73-year-old leader is resigning from the company, said Businessweek, citing the Wall Street Journal.

While not definitely confirmed, it is said he'll probably be replaced by current Bear Stearns president Alan Schwartz, who is widely respected in the industry, especially for his ability to make deals.

It's surprising he's lasted this long really, as reports during the summer that he was playing golf and bridge while two hedge funds collapsed, which many think are what initiated the subprime mortgage crisis. It may be possible it started the ball rolling, but it was a group effort all around that caused it, not any one person.

Still, it was more is lack of urgency during the time that raised eyebrows among shareholders and the industry. What specifically agitated a lot of people was he had no communication device with him during that particular time.

Cayne has been with Bear Stearns for almost 40 years, and has been CEO since 1993. He became chairman in 2001, and it looks like he's going to retain that position in the company.

For the 2007 fiscal year, profits at Bear Stearns have fallen 89 percent, the result of billions in bad debt being written down.