JPMorgan bought Bear Stearns and WaMu at panic prices and emerged as the strongest bank.

In March 2008 Bear Stearns collapsed under a run on confidence. JPMorgan answered the government's call: it agreed to buy Bear, taking the first $1 billion of losses while the Fed backed the remaining $29 billion, then raised its offer to calm shareholders.

Six months later, on September 25, 2008, federal regulators seized Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. thrift, after a $16.7 billion deposit run. JPMorgan won the government-run auction for WaMu's banking operations — CEO Jamie Dimon: 'We bid to win.'

The 2008 10-K records both deals: WaMu's banking operations were acquired for $1.9 billion, and year-end deposits reached $1.0 trillion — making JPMorgan the largest U.S. bank by deposits.

JPMorgan took $25 billion in TARP under pressure but repaid it in full in June 2009, one of the first banks out, and posted 2009 net income of $11.7 billion — more than double 2008's $5.6 billion.

JPMorgan acquired Bear Stearns and WaMu's banking operations, pushing deposits past $1 trillion; 2009 net income more than doubled to $11.7 billion.

Due-diligence discipline let JPMorgan price and close deals in days.

Taking Bear Stearns built trust with the Fed that mattered at the WaMu auction.

The deposit-rich branch network fixed JPMorgan's retail weakness cheaply.

Repaying TARP early removed government constraints on pay and strategy.

When the system is failing, the buyer with the strongest balance sheet can acquire rivals at crisis prices — if leadership can decide in days what normally takes months.

The crisis deals gave JPMorgan the branches, deposits and reputation that underpinned a decade of market dominance, while the acquired risk books caused losses but never threatened the bank. Dimon's two acquisitions became the standard case study in counter-cyclical M&A.