This year , the influential CEO of JPMorgan Chase is celebrating 18 years at the helm of the investment bank . Some people say it ’ s time he made the step up …
You could say that Jamie Dimon grew up in a banking dynasty , although not in the traditional sense . Born in New York City in 1956 , both his father and grandfather worked in the city as stock brokers . His grandfather was Panos Papademetriou , later Dimon , who emigrated to the United States in the 20th Century , making his grandson a third-generation migrant . At first Papademetriou found work as a busboy in one of the city ’ s many restaurants , before landing a job at the Atlantic Bank of New York .
“ My grandfather was fascinating ,” Dimon would later recall to podcaster Miles Fisher . “ He spoke six languages , he walked miles a day , and he read a lot .” This is something that Dimon has taken to himself , waking up early every morning to get started on new reading material .
Dimon says he learned a lot from his grandfather – not least , how to treat people fairly and how to stand up for right over wrong . He is a firm believer in the power and importance of so-called emotional intelligence , not just intellectual intelligence , and it has stood him in good stead for his career to date .
Vast experience in New York ’ s banking scene Before becoming CEO at JPMorgan Chase in December 2005 , Dimon was CEO of Bank One – one of the many mergers and acquisitions throughout JPMorgan Chase ’ s history . Indeed , the group today is built on the foundation of over 1,200 predecessor institutions , some of which date back to the late-18th and early-19th centuries .
When JPMorgan Chase acquired Bank One for US $ 58bn in 2004 , it was a homecoming of sorts for native New Yorker Dimon , who had relocated to Chicago to lead the rival bank . He was appointed COO of the newly merged entity , with a timeline of succession that would see Dimon take up the CEO role .
Dimon had previously worked at Citigroup and was seen as a shoe-in for the CEO role there , before being usurped by Deryck Maughan , the protégé of then- Citigroup Chief Executive Sanford I . Weill , who had , in 1998 , merged his Travellers Group with Citi for an even bigger sum than JPMorgan Chase ’ s buyout of Bank One two years later .
JAMIE DIMON TITLE : CEO COMPANY : JPMORGAN CHASE INDUSTRY : BANKING LOCATION : UNITED STATES
Jamie Dimon has been CEO and President of JPMorgan Chase since December 2005 . A former Citigroup executive , he left to take charge of Chicago ’ s Bank One Corporation , before that was bought out by JPMorgan in 2004 . fintechmagazine . com 23