Six months ago, in spite of having been ravaged by the credit crisis, Bear Stearns still called 383 Madison Avenue its corporate headquarters. Marcel Ospel was chairman of UBS and appeared set to be one of the great survivors of the credit crisis. Few had heard of Jérôme Kerviel, except his 11 friends on Facebook.

Today, 383 Madison is owned by JP Morgan Chase, which bought its stricken rival in March. Ospel is planning his retirement, after agreeing to step down from the Swiss bank. And while Kerviel’s few “friends” swiftly deserted him after the Société Genéralé trading scandal was uncovered in January, there are now 204 fan networks named after him on the social networking website. One is called “Jérôme Kerviel for Emperor of the Universe.”