Jamie Dimon Sets Off a Darwinian Succession Race
The head-to-head competition between Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak may not be as seamless as investors might hope.
For advocates of greater diversity in banking, the succession competition between Jennifer Piepszak and Marianne Lake is welcome news.
Photographers: Rick Osentoski/AP Images; Jin Lee/Bloomberg
When asked over the years about his plans to retire from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, in the job since 2006, has elegantly deflected the topic by sticking to a familiar refrain: “In five years.” A reshuffling at the top of the largest U.S. bank announced on Tuesday is the clearest sign yet that Dimon has in fact started the clock on the race to succeed him.
Finding a successor to the only global banking CEO to have made it through both the financial crisis of 2008 and the jolt from the Covid-19 pandemic won’t be easy. Dimon, who’s also chairman, is a formidable force in global finance. Witness the bank’s record quarterly profit this year and its share price as parts of the world rebound from the abyss of the health crisis. Even considering the central bank and regulatory interventions that have supported financial firms in the past year, it’s a remarkable feat.