Bear Stearns' second largest shareholder, Joe Lewis, said Monday JPMorgan's $2 a share offer for the investment bank is "derisory."
"I think it's a derisory offer, and I don't think they will get shareholder approval," Lewis said, in an interview with CNBC.
Lewis also discounted rumors that his position in Bear Stearns was leveraged.
The British-born billionaire, who amassed his fortune as a currency trader, is the biggest individual loser in Bear Stearns' debacle. It is estimated that he has lost nearly $1 billion from his decision to pile into Bear Stearns stock in recent months.
The fire sale of Bear Stearns stunned Wall Street and sent global financial stocks into a free fall on Monday as concerns grew that few banks are safe from deepening market turmoil.
The takeover, which has the backing of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, underlines the risks banks and financial companies are facing as the U.S. mortgage crisis deepens, while the rock-bottom price -- more than 90 percent below its Friday close -- raises questions over valuations in the banking sector.
Minutes after the deal was announced, the U.S. central bank made an emergency interest rate cut and opened direct lending to Wall Street, but the moves failed to soothe panicked investors.