Chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon plans to stay another five years in his current position.
Upon his retirement, his two deputies, Daniel Pinto and Gordon Smith, will be promoted as joint Presidents and Chief Operating Officers. Pinto spent his entire career at JPMorgan, beginning as trader and working his way to leadership of the corporate and investment bank unit in 2013. Smith was a 2007 recruit from American Express (NYSE: AXP), and is currently leader of the consumer and community banking business, which serves 61 million households and small businesses. Both have been leaders in spearheading technology initiatives within the bank, gaining reputations as digital innovators. They will continue carrying out the duties of their current jobs as well. But because they are similar in age to Dimon, it is uncertain whether they will still be willing to take on the job in another five years. As a result, younger executives are also being considered as potential successors.
62-year-old Dimon's lengthy tenure at JP Morgan has been both criticized and commended by onlookers. On the one hand, Dimon's capable leadership is credited for JPMorgan's escaping the financial meltdown intact. JPMorgan's stock also nearly doubled during Dimon's tenure, jumping from $48.07 to $116.20, an achievement that hints at leadership genius a la Buffett and Bezos. On the other hand, there was the 2012 London Whale trading scandal, in which a single London-based trader caused a $6.2 billion loss and then allegedly attempted to hide the full extent of his error. Dimon's unusually long service as CEO has also created a shuffle in top bank executives, many of whom left for center-stage roles at other firms. Dimon's critics have suggested that these exits were partly the product of a power-hungry CEO's behind-the-scenes maneuvers. Optimists insist that they are the necessary byproducts of Dimon's quest for an optimal team.
Dimon's career at JPMorgan has spanned twelve years, compared to the average S&P 500 CEO's tenure of four. Prior to his entry, Dimon managed to turn his own career around from a fallout with Sanford I. Weill, becoming JPMorgan's CEO at the end of 2005. In the past twelve years, he has steered the bank through the 2008 financial crash, while also surviving a bout of throat cancer.
Notably, JPMorgan's stocks were largely unfazed by the company's announcement of its succession plans, suggesting that Wall Street has taken the news well into stride.