Jamie Dimon suggests he’ll remain at JPMorgan for a very long time

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon 

Jamie Dimon on Friday shed light on how long he might remain in the top job at JPMorgan Chase, suggesting that he’d likely reject an opportunity to join a presidential administration and that he intends to stick with America’s biggest bank “for a long period of time.”

“I think the chance of that is almost nil, and probably I’m not going to do it,” Dimon said in response to a question from a Wells Fargo stock analyst about whether he’d say yes if offered a job with the next US president.

“I intend to be doing what I’m doing — I almost guarantee I’ll be doing this — for a long period of time, or at least until the board kicks me out,” he said.

In May, Dimon made headlines when he said his time as JPMorgan’s CEO was coming to a close. “The timetable is not five years anymore,” he told investors, a reference to a running joke about how, when asked how long he might remain at the helm, he’s often said five years.

So what gives? Is Dimon staying or going?

The options aren’t necessarily contradictory. He could stay on as the bank’s chairman of the board, a role he holds in addition to CEO. (The firm has previously said it intends to separate the CEO and chairman roles after Dimon steps down.)

Chairmen oversee companies’ boards of directors, giving them an important platform from which to steer the organization and ensure it’s serving shareholders. But the chairman isn’t the chief executive, meaning Dimon would be removed from running the company day to day and making most operational decisions.

Indeed, when the question was put to a JPMorgan spokesperson, they responded, “His timeline has not changed since his Investor Day comments, and ultimately it’s up the board,” adding, “We have said he could become Chairman after stepping down as CEO.”

Other bank CEOs who have extended their relationships with firms through chairman roles include Lloyd Blankfein, who was named a senior chairman of Goldman Sachs in 2018, when David Solomon took the top job.

Dimon didn’t rule out the possibility that he’d leave Wall Street for a career in public service. When asked whether he’d consider a government job under the right circumstances, he demurred.

“I’ve always been an American patriot. My country is more important to me than my company,” he said. After saying he likely wouldn’t accept a government job, he added: “But I’ve always reserved the right. I don’t make promises to people. I don’t have to.”

Political prognostications

Dimon made the comments during the company’s earnings call to review its third-quarter performance. JPMorgan reported net income of nearly $13 billion, with revenue from consumer and community banking topping $17 billion and investment-banking revenue reaching $2.4 billion, a nearly 30% increase from the same time last year. Asset and wealth management revenue was up nearly 10% over the same period, exceeding $5 billion.

Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Bank of America will report earnings on Tuesday.

Dimon on Friday opened his press release with a statement describing the geopolitical environment as “treacherous.”

“We have been closely monitoring the geopolitical situation for some time, and recent events show that conditions are treacherous and getting worse,” Dimon wrote. “There is significant human suffering, and the outcome of these situations could have far-reaching effects on both short-term economic outcomes and more importantly on the course of history.” He added that “critical issues remain,” like fiscal deficits, infrastructural concerns, and the “remilitarization of the world.”

His pontifications on international issues have become more pessimistic in recent months. The Wells Fargo analyst on Friday suggested Dimon had been commenting on government affairs in the past year more than at any other time in his career, raising questions about his political aspirations.

Dimon also suggested he was taking a conservative view of JPMorgan’s spending as a result of the turbulent geopolitical environment. When asked how the bank might spend its excess cash, whether to buy back stock or invest in the business, he suggested that now is the time to save.

“Cash is a very valuable asset sometimes in a turbulent world,” Dimon said. “You see my friend Warren Buffett stockpiling cash right now. I mean, people should be a little more thoughtful about how we’re trying to navigate in this world.”