JPMorgan Chase (JPM) elevated Jennifer Piepszak to chief operating officer as part of a new management reshuffling announced Tuesday, but the nation’s largest bank said that Piepszak doesn’t want to succeed Jamie Dimon as CEO.
“Jennifer has made clear her preference for this senior operating role, working closely with Jamie and in support of the top leadership team,” said JPMorgan spokesman Joe Evangelisti, but “going forward, she has said she does not want to be considered for the CEO position at this time.”
The shake-up adds new uncertainty to the race to succeed the 68-year-old Dimon, the longest-serving big bank CEO and the only one left who called the shots during the 2008 financial crisis.
Piepszak had previously been considered one of the frontrunners to get Dimon’s job eventually.
The view now within the bank is that three other executives — Marianne Lake, Doug Petno, and Troy Rohrbaugh — are the best candidates to become CEO. Piepszak could step in immediately if Dimon had to exit unexpectedly — a contingency referred to within the bank as the “hit by a bus” scenario.
“Succession has been a bit murky, and this doesn’t change it much,” Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo said in a Tuesday note titled: “JPM Succession—We’re Confused.”
JPMorgan’s stock was flat Tuesday. It has climbed 44% over the last 12 months. The bank is expected to set another record for highest full-year profits in US banking history when it reports earnings Wednesday morning.
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The other management changes announced Tuesday include the departure of president and COO Daniel Pinto, who will relinquish his responsibilities by June and retire at the end of 2026. He was previously considered the choice to replace Dimon in a “hit by a bus” scenario.
Petno will go from being co-head of global banking to succeeding Piepszak as co-CEO of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank. Petno will serve alongside Rohrbaugh, who was already co-CEO of that massive division.
Lake, who runs the sprawling consumer banking unit, and asset management head Mary Erdoes will stay in their current roles, reporting directly to Dimon.
John Simmons, head of commercial banking, will succeed Petno and join Filippo Gori as the new co-head of global banking.
“I want to congratulate Jennifer, Doug and John on their expanded roles,” Dimon said in a release. “I have never been more proud and optimistic about our company, in large part because of the extraordinary efforts of these leaders and our other members of the Operating Committee and executive team.”
Dimon made it clear last year that he sees an end to his time as boss of the biggest US bank, telling analysts that his timetable for an exit is “not five years anymore” and that the succession process is “well on the way.”
During an interview with CBS that aired this past weekend, Dimon said, “I like my job, yes.”
A prior management reshuffling announced last year put the succession spotlight squarely on Piepszak and Lake, who each had a hand in overseeing the two biggest parts of the company.
The two executives share much in the way of credentials. Both have acted as JPMorgan’s chief financial officer, both are in their mid-50s, and both have been with the bank longer than Dimon, who joined in 2004.
Until January 2024, they were also both in charge of JPMorgan’s sprawling consumer and small business unit, which oversees everything from checking accounts to credit cards to home loans.
Then Piepszak, as part of the 2024 management shake-up, became co-CEO of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank, which acts as a major player on Wall Street. Lake became the sole boss of the consumer division.
A year later, Piepszak is now taking a new role where she will coordinate all technology, operations, data and analytics, and corporate strategy across the company — working closely with Pinto over the next couple of months.
“She’s deeply committed to the future of the firm, and both honored and excited by this opportunity,” JPMorgan’s Evangelisti said.
But Piepszak “made clear her preference to help Jamie and support the next future leaders of the company,” he added.
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Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Troy Rohrbaugh’s name. We regret the error.