The collapse of Bear Stearns dealt a severe blow to investors, from big names like billionaire Joseph Lewis to thousands of employees of the brokerage firm. But there's one group trying to contain their joy amid all the gloom on Wall Street: investors who placed big bets against Bear Stearns.

Large hedge funds, including Harbinger Capital Partners, Greenlight Capital, Tremblant Capital and Paulson & Co, made millions of dollars as Bear Stearns' shares tumbled and various bearish positions rose in value, according to securities filings and people close to the firms.