Financial Services Association, May 21 (Editor Xiaoxiang) “The Big Brother of Wall Street” and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase Dimon first hinted on Monday that he might lift the burden of being CEO of America's largest bank within five years!

At J.P. Morgan Chase's annual Investor Day event on Monday, Dimon said during a question-and-answer session with analysts that the bank's successor plan “is progressing smoothly.”

In response to questions about how long he plans to be CEO again, Dimon told shareholders that the timeline would “no longer be five years.”

It's worth mentioning that for at least the past 10 years, Dimon answered questions about a possible retirement using the same template: work for another five years. And on Monday, the 68-year-old seemed to finally admit that the countdown clock to step down from office had begun to tick.

Damon didn't provide further details on when he plans to leave. “It's up to the board, not me,” Dimon said. I have the same energy as always. This is important. I think when I'm not ready and fully committed, I should basically just leave.”

As far as the outside world is concerned, the timing of Dimon's suggestion of leaving office itself is not surprising, but until now, Dimon himself has been unwilling to explain more about this.

Dimon received a special bonus from J.P. Morgan's board of directors in 2021, and he will need to be CEO until 2026 to receive this bonus.

Will a successor be selected internally?

Regarding his successor, Dimon said on Monday that his successor may come from within the bank because many of J.P. Morgan's current executives have experience working in different departments of the bank.

These include Jennifer Piepszak, currently co-head of commercial and investment banking, and Marianne Lake, head of the retail banking department. Both of these executives have worked in commercial banking and retail banking departments, and are considered by outsiders to be potential successors to Damon.

Also, if Dimon needed an immediate successor, Daniel Pinto, the bank's president and chief operating officer, could do the job.

There has long been endless speculation about Damon's retirement, and speculation that his successor is Wall Street's favorite topic to talk about. A large number of his deputies have left Xiaomo to run other banks and companies, including Barclays, Wells Fargo, Visa, Standard Chartered, and the American Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

Recently, Dimon sold some Komo shares for the first time, which has once again sparked speculation. However, he said at the time that the sale of shares was for estate planning, not to leave.

Dimon took over as CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase at the end of 2005. Under his leadership, J.P. Morgan Chase became the bank with the largest assets and deposits in the US, and developed into a major credit card issuer, expanding its business to all 48 contiguous states in the mainland of the United States.

Since Dimon took over, J.P. Morgan Chase's return on stocks, including dividends, has outperformed the US stock market by more than 700% — the total return of the S&P 500 index during this period was about 500%. The stock hit a record high last Friday.

Dimon is the longest-serving leader of the largest banks in the US and the only one currently serving as CEO before the financial crisis of 2008-09. His commitment to building a “bastion balance sheet” helped J.P. Morgan Chase maintain strong momentum during the crisis and helped stabilize the US financial system by acquiring rivals Bearsden and Washington Mutual Bank. In the US banking crisis that began in March of last year, the powerful J.P. Morgan Chase also bought First Republic Bank.

It is worth mentioning that Dimon also said on Monday that there will be no further large-scale stock repurchases at current prices. He believes that the bank's current stock price is too high. After Dimon made the above remarks, Xiaomo's stock price fell sharply by 4.5% on Monday.