- The CEO of JPMorgan Chase said Friday that he does not plan to join the next presidential administration.
- Jamie Dimon said he expects to stay at JPMorgan “for a long time.”
- Another option for Dimon to do after stepping down as CEO is to stay on as chairman.
Jamie Dimon on Friday clarified how long he might stay chief executive officer at JPMorgan Chasehinted that he might turn down the opportunity to join the presidential administration and that he intends to stick with America’s largest bank “for a long time.”
“I think the chance of that is almost nonexistent, and I probably won’t do it,” Dimon said in response to a question from a Wells Fargo stock analyst about whether he would say yes. if he is given a job and the next president of the United States.
“I’m committed to doing what I’m doing – I’m almost certain I’ll be doing this – for a long time, or at least until the board fires me,” he said.
In May, Dimon made headlines when he said his time as CEO of JPMorgan it was almost over. “The timeline is no longer five years,” he told investors, joking that when asked how long he could stay in office, he often said five years.
So what’s to give? Does Dimon stay or go?
The options are not necessarily contradictory. He can remain the bank’s chairman of the board, a role he has in addition to the CEO. (The firm previously said it intended to separate the roles of CEO and chairman after Dimon stepped down.)
Chairmen oversee the boards of directors of companies, giving them an important platform from which to run the organization and ensure that it serves its shareholders. But the chairman is not the chief executive, meaning Dimon will be removed from running the company on a day-to-day basis and making many operational decisions.
Indeed, when the question was put to a JPMorgan spokesperson, they replied, “His schedule has not changed since his Investor Day comments, and ultimately the board,” adding , “We said he could be Chairman after stepping down as CEO. .”
Other bank chiefs who have expanded their ties to firms by becoming chairman include Lloyd Blankfein, who was named chief executive of Goldman Sachs in 2018, with David Solomon taking over.
Dimon did not rule out the possibility of leaving Wall Street for a public service career. When asked if he would consider a government job under the right circumstances, he said no.
“I have been an American citizen. My country is more important to me than my company,” he said. After saying that he might not accept a government job, he added: “But I have always kept the right. I don’t make promises to people.
Political ideas
Dimon made the comments during the company’s earnings call at review its third quarter performance. JPMorgan reported net income of nearly $13 billion, with income from consumer and community banks topping $17 billion and investment income to $2.4 billion, an increase of nearly 30%. from the same time last year. Asset and wealth management revenue was up nearly 10% over the same period, to more than $5 billion.
Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Bank of America will report earnings on Tuesday.
Dimon on Friday opened his press conference with a statement describing the political environment as “treacherous.”
“We have been watching the political situation closely for a long time, and recent events show that the situation is treacherous and worsening,” Dimon wrote. “There is significant suffering. of people, and the consequences of these situations can have major consequences in the short term of the economy and of great importance in history.” He added that “critical issues still exist,” such as shortages of finances, infrastructure problems and “renovating the world.”
His pontifications continue international affairs have become more pessimistic in recent months. A Wells Fargo analyst on Friday suggested Dimon has been commenting on government issues more in the past year than at any time in his career, raising questions about his political ambitions.
Dimon also suggested that he viewed JPMorgan’s bad spending because of the turmoil in the political environment. When asked how the bank could use its excess cash, whether to buy back assets or invest in business, he suggested that now is the time to save.
“Money is a very valuable asset at times in a chaotic world,” Dimon said. “You see my friend Warren Buffett raising money now. I mean people need to think more about how we’re trying to navigate this world.”
Correction: October 11, 2024 – An earlier version of this story misstated Lloyd Blankfein’s name.