AP – Jamie Dimon will do something he has never done before in nearly two decades as the head of JPMorgan Chase and Co – sell shares in the company.
The top executive of the nation’s largest bank will sell USD1 million shares starting next year, according to a regulatory filing this week.
JPMorgan sought to reassure investors that the stock sale is not a matter of concern.
“Dimon continues to believe the company’s prospects are very strong and his stake in the company will remain very significant,” the filing said.
Dimon and his family currently hold about USD8.6 million shares of the bank.
And JPMorgan has become a titan under Dimon’s leadership.
Dimon became Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan in January 2006 and added on the chairman role a year later. The value of the bank, with USD3.2 trillion in assets, has tripled during Dimon’s tenure, and it now as a market capitalisation of more than USD409.1 billion, according to FactSet.
The value of JPMorgan’s shares have also tripled in that time and they are up another 10 per cent in the past year.
The New York bank reported a 35-per-cent surge in profits during its most recent quarter, fuelled by a rapid rise in interest rates.
Dimon has also come to be considered a powerful and frank voice on Wall Street. He issued a sobering statement about the current state of world affairs and economic instability. When the bank posted another blockbuster earnings report two weeks ago, Dimon warned, “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”
Shares of JPMorgan Chase and Co closed on Friday down USD5.07, or 3.6 per cent at USD135.69.
