JPMorgan CEO ‘recovering well’ after heart surgery
JPMORGAN Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon underwent emergency heart surgery, temporarily handing control of the largest US bank to his lieutenants just as a potential pandemic rattles the global financial system.
Dimon felt chest pain before work on Thursday and went to hospital, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. It may have saved his life.
He was diagnosed with acute aortic dissection, a serious condition involving a tear in the large blood vessel branching off the heart.
“It was caught early and the surgery was successful,” the bank said in a statement. “He is awake, alert and recovering well.” It placed co-presidents Daniel Pinto and Gordon
Smith in charge during his recuperation.
Dimon (63) is the most prominent executive in global banking, serving as a spokesman for the industry and leading a juggernaut of both Wall Street and consumer lending. At the helm for almost 15 years, he’s the only leader left who steered a major US bank through the financial crisis, and his firm just set a profit record for the nation’s lenders. He also serves as chairman and has frequently joked for most of a decade that he plans to keep running the company for five more years.
“He has lasted far longer than the average CEO,” said Peter Hahn, who recently retired as dean of the London Institute of Banking and Finance. “It brings up the point that nobody is irreplaceable. It’s now critical that the board ensures it has a succession plan in place.”