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The Margin

Why JPMorgan’s Dimon says he was ‘confused’ by question about bank’s next CEO being a woman or person of color

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday said he was ‘confused’ by a question about diversity posed to him and other bank bosses at a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week.



On Wednesday, CEOs from the nation’s largest banks were asked by Democratic Rep. Al Green if their “likely successor will be a woman or a person of color.”

None of the CEO’s responded in the affirmative.

After Green reframed his query to focus on a timeline of succession over the next decade, Dimon and Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman were the only bank chieftains to still not respond in the affirmative.

On separate calls Friday to discuss JPMorgan’s quarterly results, Dimon was twice asked to explain his position.

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Morgan Stanley bank analyst Betsy Graseck, in an analysts’ call, said: “I want to ask because I got a couple of questions on it yesterday. The whole group of CEOs was asked…would a woman or would a person of color succeed you?

“And I don’t think you raised your hand. And just wanted to understand why and just hear from you. You know what -- why you answered the question that way,” she said.

Dimon said: “Yeah. So, we don’t comment on succession plans. That’s a board-level issue. But also I was confused by the question ‘likely’ without a timetable.”

The 63-year-old bank boss went on to say: “So, we have exceptional women. And my successor may very well be a woman and it may not. And it really depends on the circumstance…And it might be different if it’s one year from now versus five years from now.”

Dimon’s comments came as the bank reported better-than-expected results that helped to deliver a lift to the broader market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA-1.92% and the S&P 500 index SPX-2.37% trading near record highs on Friday. Share of JPMorgan JPM-1.62% on Friday were enjoying their sharpest daily gain since November of 2016, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Dimon also was asked about diversity during a separate call with reporters on Friday. Referring more specifically to Marianne Lake, JPMorgan’s chief financial officer, who is viewed as one potential successor, Dimon said: “I think there are many people that can succeed me at this company.”

He added, “I think Marianne is exceptional.”

At the same Wednesday hearing, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, chairwoman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on diversity, challenged the CEOs to submit specific plans on increasing diversity and creating a head of diversity within their organizations if they didn’t already have one.

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, women held about 45% of all management positions in the financial sector 2015, roughly flat since 2007, despite representing more than half of the population.

Fewer than 30% of senior-level managers were women and only 12% were minorities, the data show.

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