UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549



                            SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

                Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
               Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )

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                         THE BEAR STEARNS COMPANIES INC.
                (Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)


(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)

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                         THE BEAR STEARNS COMPANIES INC.
                                 245 PARK AVENUE
                            NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10167
                                -----------------
                          SUPPLEMENT TO PROXY STATEMENT
                                -----------------
                         ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
                                 MARCH 29, 2001
                                -----------------

      This Supplement to the Proxy Statement  clarifies the line graph set forth
under the caption  "PERFORMANCE GRAPH - COMPARISON OF FIVE-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL
RETURN" in the Proxy Statement of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. dated March 2,
2001. The revised Performance Graph is set forth below.

March 13, 2001                                By order of the Board of Directors
                                              Kenneth L. Edlow,
                                              Secretary


                                PERFORMANCE GRAPH

      The following  performance graph compares the performance of an investment
in the  Company's  Common Stock over the last five fiscal years with the S&P 500
Index,  the S&P  Financial  Diversified  Index and its Peer Group.  The entities
included  in the  Company's  current  peer group (the "Peer  Group")  consist of
Merrill Lynch & Co.,  Inc.,  Morgan  Stanley,  Dean Witter & Co.,  Goldman Sachs
Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings,  Inc. The performance graph assumes the
value of the investment in the Company's Common Stock and each index was $100 on
November 30, 1995, and that all dividends have been reinvested.  There can be no
assurance that the Company's  future stock  performance will correlate with past
stock performance.

                 COMPARISON OF FIVE-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN

            [Data below represents line chart in the printed piece]


--------------
      Assumes $100 invested on November 30, 1995 in the Company's  Common Stock;
S&P 500 Index; S&P Financial  Diversified  Index; the New Peer Group and the Old
Peer Group and that all dividends have been reinvested.



                                        1995       1996        1997        1998       1999        2000
                                        ----       ----        ----        ----       ----        ----
                                                                              
The Bear Stearns Companies Inc.       $100.00    $152.54     $258.85     $278.42     $312.64    $362.66
New Peer Group (1)                     100.00     138.51      234.11      294.18      431.12     416.92
Old Peer Group (2)                     100.00     136.67      234.10      293.99      419.60     499.12
S&P Financial Diversified Index        100.00     137.35      192.07      270.94      341.25     393.49
S&P 500 Index                          100.00     126.18      159.24      198.72      236.12     219.17


---------------
(1)  Peer Group  calculation  assumes  conversion  of Morgan  Stanley Group Inc.
     shares into newly formed  company,  Morgan  Stanley,  Dean Witter & Co., in
     June 1997.  In fiscal year 2000,  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was added to the
     peer group.  Goldman  Sachs Group Inc. is not included in results for 1995,
     1996,  1997,  1998 and 1999. The peer group no longer  includes  Donaldson,
     Lufkin & Jenrette  Inc. and Paine  Webber  Group Inc. due to their  mergers
     with  Credit  Suisse  Group  and UBS AG,  respectively,  and the  resulting
     unavailability of financial information on a comparative basis.
(2)  Peer Group  calculation  assumes  conversion  of Morgan  Stanley Group Inc.
     shares into newly formed  company,  Morgan  Stanley,  Dean Witter & Co., in
     June 1997. Donaldson,  Lufkin & Jenrette Inc.'s performance is not included
     in results for 1995.  Donaldson  Lufkin & Jenrette  Inc.  and Paine  Webber
     Group Inc are not  included in results for 2000 due to their  mergers  with
     Credit   Suisse  Group  and  UBS  AG,   respectively,   and  the  resulting
     unavailability of financial information on a comparative basis.