jamie dimon

Birthday: March 13, 1956

Hometown: New York 

Primary Residence: New York

Current role: Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase (2018-present)

Net worth/salary: At least $2.3 billion (WealthX)

2023 Compensation: $36 million

Education:

• BA in Psychology and Economics from Tufts University, 1978 (WealthX)

• MBA from Harvard University, 1982 (WealthX)

Board memberships, affiliations, and roles: (data obtained from WealthX)

• Director of Business Roundtable (2014-present) 

• Director of Financial Services Roundtable

• Member of the Commercial Club of Chicago

• President of the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation

• Chairman of the Bank Policy Institute

• Committee Member and Trustee of the University of Chicago

• Dean’s Board Member at Harvard Business School

  • Formerly served as Director at Harvard Business School

• Vice Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 

  • Vice Chairman of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund

• Member of the Commission on Economic Opportunity

• Governor of the National Association of Securities Dealers

• Overseer of NYU Langone Health

• Trustee of the Chicago Community Trust

• Vice President of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF)

• Member of the Economic Club of Chicago (ECC)

• Advisory Board Member at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management

• Member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)

• Director of Catalyst

• Member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

• Director of the Here to Here Foundation

  • Dimon’s wife, Judith, is the president

• Honorary Director of the National Center on Addiction and Substance-Abuse at Columbia University

• Member of the Trilateral Commission

Past roles: (data obtained from WealthX)

• Member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) (2016-2017)

• Member of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum (2016-2017)

• Director of The Business Council (2011-2022)

• Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (2007-2012)

• Chairman of the Clearing House Payments Company (2007-2011)

• President of JPMorgan Chase (2004-2018)

• COO of JPMorgan Chase (2004-2005)

• Chairman and CEO of Bank One (2000-2004)

  • Bank One merged with JPMorgan Chase & Company in 2004

• Director of Yum! Brands (1997-2005)

• Co-Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets (1997-2000)

• Various positions at Citigroup (1986-1998)

  • President and CFO of Commercial Credit Company (1986-1991)

    • Was later acquired and renamed Primerica in 1991, where Dimon served as President and CFO (1991-1994)

    • President of Smith Barney (1990-1993), COO of Smith Barney (1993), Chairman and CEO of Smith Barney (1996)

    • Smith Barney merged with Travelers Group (Dimon served as president from 1995-1998) and eventually Citicorp to form Citigroup in 1998

      • Dimon served as President in 1998

• Vice President of American Express (1982-1985)

• Intern at Goldman Sachs (1978-1982)

Fun facts: 

• In 2011, Dimon was named the Institutional Investor’s Best CEO and CEO of the year, receiving $23M in a pay package. 

• Dimon is second generation American, as his grandparents moved from Greece. His grandfather allegedly served at the Bank of Athens (WealthX).

Investing in the Fossil Fuel Industry

• Since the 2016 Paris Agreement, JPMorgan Chase has been the “largest single financier of fossil fuels, at a total of $434 billion” and is one of the “top 6 financers of fracked gas activities.” JPMorgan invests roughly $47M in 314 different fossil fuel companies, with ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil being the top recipients. 

• JPMorgan Chase owns roughly 4.9% of ConocoPhillips and 1.3% of ExxonMobil. Of the $47M invested in various fossil fuel companies, $18,357 million is in coal and $33,625 million in oil and gas. Banking on Climate Chaos found JPMorgan Chase to rank at number one as “the worst financier of fossil fuels” in 2023, investing $40.8 billion in fossil fuels in that year alone. 2023 was also found to be the hottest year on record. 

• According to the report Banking on Climate Chaos, “any new fossil fuel development after 2021 risks our ability to keep global warming below 1.5˚C” and the more banks like JPMorgan continue to invest in fossil fuel companies and fund fracking and pipeline efforts, the worse the crisis will get.

Investing in the Mountain Valley Pipeline

• JPMorgan’s investments in the Mountain Valley Pipeline carry extremely negative consequences for the environment and the local community. According to BankTrack, construction has led to “clogged streams and rivers due to dirty runoff, destabilized mountain slopes, blasted underground caves” and “degraded drinking water, damaged farmland, and harm to Indigenous sacred sites.” The pipeline would expose nearby communities to toxic pollution, which increases the risk of heart and lung disease. The pipeline’s construction started in 2018 but has been stalled due to resistance in nearby communities and the developers’ violation of over 300 environmental laws. The pipeline’s developers have also “strong-armed landowners and dispossessed Native communities along the projected pipeline path to sell their property.” According to Grist, polluting projects like this primarily negatively affect women – particularly women of color. This is because toxic pollution can carry specific risks of breast and ovarian cancer, impact births, and the risk of sexual violence is increased at labor camps around fossil fuel infrastructure. 

Investing in Coal

• The environmental impacts of JPMorgan’s fossil fuel investments can also be seen in their investments in coal companies such as Massey Energy. Massey Energy is a large coal mining company in the United States and the “largest coal producer in Appalachia”. Over 500 Appalachian mountains have been destroyed and countless streams have been buried, which are vital to agriculture in the area and to the Chesapeake watershed.

Empty Climate Commitments

• JPMorgan Chase announced in 2020 that they are instating new climate-friendly commitments in line with the goals set forth by the Paris Agreement, allegedly committing to “become carbon neutral in its own operations” starting in 2021. The company’s website advertises that the company plans to align “key sectors of our financing portfolio with net zero emissions by 2050.”

• In 2021, JPMorgan Asset Management joined the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, stating support for limiting warming to 1.5C. JPMorgan has also stated support for government intervention to ensure carbon is priced into the economy. In the company's 2021 Annual Report, CEO Jamie Dimon called on governments to enact “thoughtful policies” to address climate change. 

• Although JPMorgan promoted a switch to green energy and away from fossil fuels, according to LobbyMap, in April of 2021 the company opposed “transitioning the energy mix away from fossil fuels.” The company also stated that “the solution is not as simple as walking away from fossil fuels” and that “the world will continue to use fossil fuels for the foreseeable future.” This statement was based on Jamie Dimon’s belief that there are no “adequate, commercially available low carbon energy solutions.” 

Climate Crimes in South America

• The Amazon rainforest is one of the most important places in the world for environmental stability due to its ability to absorb carbon, but it is also one of the biggest opportunities for oil, gas, and mining companies. The Amazon has lost enough tree coverage that it is now “emitting more carbon than it absorbs” which could leave the world’s food and water systems unbalanced and threaten local Indigenous communities. The financing of gas and oil industries in the Amazon is tied to “deforestation, biodiversity loss, indigenous rights violations, pollution, corruption, and the exacerbation of climate dysregulation.” JPMorgan plays a major role in these ecological and social tensions by providing around $1.59B to Amazon oil and gas companies from 2016-2022. The leader for the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampi Nation, a Peruvian indigenous group, called out JPMorgan’s involvement in oil and gas extraction in the Amazon Rainforest. The group stated that although Petroperu, a Peruvian gas company, was the cause of suffering in the past due to “the largest oil spill in all of Latin America”, it “needs to activate oil wells in our territory to pay the debts it has acquired from commercial banks such as JPMorgan Chase”

• JPMorgan also invests in fracking projects in Vaca Muerta, Argentina, led by Shell and other fossil fuel companies. According to a spokesperson from the Mapuche Tehuelche Parliament of Rio Negro, “fracking in Vaca Murta leads to water pollution, the loss of animals, and fruit plants wither.”

Climate Crimes in the Phillippines 

• JPMorgan continues to invest in environmental harm globally by investing in eight proposed power plants in the Philippines. Proponents of fossil fuels argue for methane gas as a ‘safer’ alternative, but methane gas “has 80 times more climate-warming potential than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.” The beginning stages of construction have already exacerbated the climate crisis in the area due to increased ship traffic, an 800,000-liter oil spill in February of 2023, and rising mercury levels in the water causing damage to marine life and coastal areas. The local people are also being impacted by the construction of the power plants as the oil spill has “robbed thousands of their food and livelihoods” and “caused health problems” for people in the affected areas.

Jamie Dimon has a net worth of at least $2.3 billion (WealthX). In 2023 – the hottest year on record – Dimon earned a record-high salary of $36 million.  

In May 2023, Dimon owned 8,631,515 shares of the company’s stock, worth over $1.1 billion. Dimon allegedly owns four properties in Mount Kisco, NY with a total value estimated to be around $2.8M, and a property in Bedford, NY. In addition to his multiple properties, Dimon has four private jets, with a total value of roughly $230 million (WealthX).  

Dimon was named on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2011. In 2011, Dimon was named the Institutional Investor’s Best CEO and CEO of the Year, receiving $23 million in a pay package. In June 2024, the current UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, suggested that Dimon might be a candidate for some form of British honor, potentially even knighthood.

Dimon has a long list of philanthropic involvement. In 1996, Dimon and his wife, Judith, founded a nonprofit foundation called The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation, which works primarily in “education, health, and children, youth, and social services.” The Foundation had a revenue of $22.2 million in 2022, with $178 million in total assets that year.

Dimon has donated to many philanthropic organizations spanning different sectors including education, medical, children, performing arts centers, and more. 

Philanthropic Donations (WealthX):

• 2018 - $1 million to CARE USA

• 2007 - $10,000+ to Catalyst

• 2014 - $9.1 million to Children’s Aid Society

• 2016 - $260,000-524,000 - City Year

• 2020 - $5,000+ to Clinton Foundation

• 2019 - $5,000+ to Clinton Foundation

• 2019 - $300,000+ to Council on Foreign Relations

• 2011-2015 - $350,000+ to Harlem Children’s Zone 

• 2013 - $1 million to Harvard Business School 

• 2015-2018 - $3.2 million-$7.9 million - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

• 2006 - $10,000 to NY Philharmonic

• 2009 - $500,000-$1 million to Northwestern Medical Center

• 2009 - $10,000+ to Partnership with Children

  • 2006 - $2,500

  • 2005 - $2,500

• 2013 - $1 million to Columbia University Teachers College

• 2003-2010 - $325,000 to The Center for Arts Education

• 2005 - $1 million - University of Chicago

JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States and one of the biggest financiers of the fossil fuel industry, having financed  $434 billion in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement. In terms of specific fossil fuels, JPMorgan has invested in a long list of fossil fuels from 2016-2022 including: $139.198 billion to fossil fuel expansion, $10.995 billion to tar sands oil, $5.269 billion to Arctic oil & gas, $1.484 billion to Amazon oil & gas, $38.326 billion to offshore oil & gas, $78.206 billion to fracked oil & gas, $2.177 billion to coal mining, and $1.411 billion to coal power. 

JPMorgan releases an annual report with a section dedicated to the company’s views on climate change and suggested measures; it tends to focus on the financial impacts of climate change. 

In his 2023 annual report to shareholders, Jamie Dimon announced the company's exit from the Climate Action 100+ and the Equator Principles due to a need to “make our own business decisions.” The company opened up an in-house group related to creating a green economy that will inform the company’s work across all industry groups. 

Dimon stated: “we think we have some of the best-in-class environmental, social and risk standards because we have invested in our own in-house experts.” JPMorgan will move forward by gathering information from experts in the field and following all legal requirements. The company additionally noted, however, that it will “use the word ‘commitment’ much more reserved in the future, clearly differentiating between aspirations we are actively striving toward and binding commitments”, which may result in less oversight and accountability.

Many organizations are fighting against JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon. Fossil Banks, LobbyMap, and Banking on Climate Chaos are working to make the company’s fossil fuel investments and negative climate engagements public. 

In February 2024, five Extinction Rebellion activists wearing shirts that said “deeds not words” broke the glass door of JPMorgan’s London bank.

In April 2023, over 1,300 scientists urged JPMorgan shareholders to vote on a resolution for the board to “adopt a policy to ramp down financing of fossil fuel expansion.”

In December 2023, 30 members of Climate Action Rhode Island protested at JPMorgan’s bank in Barrington, RI. The activists protested the Bank’s involvement in fossil fuel investments and urged the bank to divest from the fossil fuel industry. 

350NYC made a Valentine’s Day video in 2021 that called out Dimon’s investment in the fossil fuel industry. Their campaign read: “Dimon is the fossil fuel industry’s best friend, sweetheart, and sugar daddy, and it’s time to end the relationship.”

• "Why can‘t we get it through our thick skulls, that if you want to solve climate [change], it is not against climate [change] for America to boost more oil and gas?" –Dimon, 2022

• “The window for action to avert the costliest impacts of global climate change is closing. At the same time, the ongoing war in Ukraine is roiling trade relations across Europe and Asia and redefining the way countries and companies plan for energy security. The need to provide energy affordably and reliably for today, as well as make the necessary investments to decarbonize for tomorrow, underscores the inextricable links between economic growth, energy security and climate change." –Dimon, 2023