Latest news with #MarianneLake
Telegraph
11 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The British woman competing to run the world's biggest bank
When Marianne Lake came second on American Banker's list of the most powerful women in finance, she joked that it was better to come in third place, as she had the year before. 'By my estimation, being number three is a pretty sweet spot,' she quipped to the audience of Wall Street high-flyers at the 2015 event. 'You've placed, you're on the podium, you get a medal, and you get to sit down and drink through the speeches.' Lake may not have favoured the limelight then, but soon it would be inescapable. Today, the Briton is one of the frontrunners in the race to succeed Jamie Dimon as chief executive of JP Morgan, the biggest bank in the US and one of the biggest in the world. The job would see her lead a Wall Street titan that employs over 300,000 staff while serving more than 82m customers both in the US and the UK. Lake, 55, would also be stepping into the shoes of a giant. Dimon, 69, has worked as JP Morgan's chief executive since 2006, helping the bank not just survive the financial crisis, but thrive in its aftermath. Its share price has increased almost 600pc since Dimon took charge. JP Morgan's chief is widely regarded as one of the world's most influential financiers. He was floated as Donald Trump's potential treasury secretary, and Dimon has toyed with running for the presidency himself in the past. When Dimon speaks, his words carry weight well beyond Wall Street. Lake, who runs JP Morgan's consumer & community banking division, is one of a small group of senior executives who have been identified as potential candidates to succeed Dimon when he chooses to step down. If she were to step into his shoes, Lake would become the first woman to lead JP Morgan in its 154-year history, as well as becoming its first British chief too. Could she make history and move from number two to the top spot? Born to a British father and an American mother, Lake moved from Cumberland, Maryland – a small US city of less than 20,000 people – to the UK, aged two. Her father was a computer programmer and her mother an airline ticketing agent. Lake studied physics at Reading University before starting her career at PwC in London. She moved to the accounting giant's Sydney offices, before joining JP Morgan in 1999 at the age of 30. She quickly rose through the ranks to be named chief financial officer of the consumer & community banking division in 2009, dealing with more than 82m of JP Morgan's retail customers. 'It's really smart to have a strong contender with a 'Main Street' point of view, given the role that banks play in real people's lives,' says Sandra Sucher, an economist at Harvard Business School. Unlike rivals such as Goldman Sachs that focus on investment activities, JP Morgan also offers bank accounts and loans to millions of ordinary citizens. It is part of what makes the bank so huge, and the job of running it so influential. Lake's main rivals in the succession battle are Douglas Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, both co-chief executives of JP Morgan's commercial and investment bank – the Wall Street side of the ledger. Lake recently had her own position expanded to cover the responsibilities formerly held by Sanoke Viswanathan, an executive who has now left JP Morgan to join FactSet, a financial data provider. Many took it as a sign she could be being lined up to take the top job. The Briton has acknowledged that she might not 'fit the typical profile' of a top banker at JP Morgan, given she spent her formative years outside of the US and did not attend an Ivy League school or Oxbridge. However, Glenn Schorr, a banking analyst at Evercore, says there's 'no chance' anyone would see Lake as an outsider after 'spending more than three minutes with her'. 'I don't think anybody's ever said a bad word about her,' says Schorr, who has known Lake for over a decade. 'She's charming to be around. She has an insane command for the subject matter. She's got the full package.' Lake wouldn't be the first British woman to lead a Wall Street bank. Jane Fraser, who runs Citibank, was born in St Andrews, Scotland. Her background is, however, more traditional Wall Street: Fraser studied economics at Cambridge before working in the mergers and acquisitions unit of Goldman Sachs, later completing an MBA at Harvard Business School. JP Morgan insiders described Lake as a 'big success story' and said people within the bank were 'very enthusiastic about her chances of becoming the next Jamie Dimon'. To her advantage, Lake has worked closely with JP Morgan's chief for years. She told Marie Claire in 2013: 'Our offices are right next door, and we're in and out of each other's offices multiple times a day. Every Friday night we try to sit down together and go over things, but it's not always necessary. We're usually on the same page.' Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said Lake has 'done a very good job in her role'. He described Lake as 'pretty forward' and 'direct', and someone who 'demands and receives a high level of production from the people that she works with'. 'You can tell that she has a high level of expectations for the people that work for her.' Lake's high status within the bank is reflected in her pay. She earned $18.5m in 2024, making her the fourth-best remunerated executive behind Dimon; Daniel Pinto, JP Morgan's president; and Mary Erdoes, the chief executive of JP Morgan's wealth management business, who may also have a shot at the top job. Lake now lives in New York, having moved to the US in 2004. In February, local newspaper Crain's New York Business reported she had moved into a four bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, said to have been purchased for more than $13m. Schorr describes Lake as a fast talker with an extensive knowledge of the bank. 'It feels like she knows everything about everything,' he says, adding that JP Morgan's major shareholders hold her in the 'highest regard'. 'I'm not going to pretend it's easy' The executive has given relatively few interviews to the media and was unavailable to speak for this piece. It means there are few clues as to what direction she might take JP Morgan in, if she were to rise to the position of chief executive. One thing she has opened up about publicly is her decision to have her three children in her 40s, through a surrogate, raising them on her own. 'I'm not going to pretend it's easy,' Lake told the audience at American Banker's gala in 2015. 'But, like everything in life, to make it work you need to be highly organised.' In her interview with Marie Claire, Lake said: 'I never worried about raising a kid on my own. I'm 42, not 20 with my eyes closed. The circumstances aren't traditional, but I didn't hesitate to do it.' Lake has also championed diversity. In her 2015 speech at American Banker's gala, the executive said she had made an effort to surround herself with a 'diverse team ... with respect to experience, background and thinking.' 'Should my daughter decide to follow in my footsteps and enter this great industry, I would like to believe that she would have all the same opportunities that her brothers would, and that I would like to do everything I can to ensure that that is the case,' she said. Lake's rise comes at a time when Donald Trump is fighting an all-out war on the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that have become widespread throughout America's largest firms. JP Morgan itself recently relaunched its DEI initiatives, replacing the word 'equity' with 'opportunity', in a rebrand of the programme under a new name, 'DOI'. Whether this is enough to escape the president's ire remains to be seen. Regardless, Lake may not have to deal with Trump, even if she does get the top job. The board of JP Morgan handed Dimon a $50m retention bonus in 2021 that would keep him in the top job until at least the middle of next year, and he said this week that his retirement was 'several years away'. Still, he has also admitted that succession planning is 'well under way'. While she may still face a wait, Lake could soon become JP Morgan's first female chief – and one of the most prominent Britons on Wall Street. The limelight is calling.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
List of JPMorgan candidates to eventually replace CEO Dimon
JPMorgan Chase is making moves behind the scenes to eventually replace its longtime CEO Jamie Dimon, who is expected to retire within five years. Dimon, 69, indicated in a Monday interview with Fox Business that he intends to step away from America's largest consumer bank in 'several years,' adding that he loves the job. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan put Marianne Lake in charge of strategic growth and the firm's international consumer bank. Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, who together lead JPMorgan's commercial and investment banking operations, are also vying for the top job. What Petno has going for him is his length of service. He's been at the bank for 35 years and has held numerous roles at the company. By comparison, Lake has been at JPMorgan for 25 years, while Rohrbaugh has been there for 20 years. Jenn Piepszak was a real possibility to become CEO several months ago. She effectively took herself out of the running when she accepted the COO job in January. Piepszak replaced former COO Daniel Pinto, who will serve as the company's president until he retires in 2026. Pinto, too, was once considered someone who could step into the CEO role, as he previously assumed those responsibilities when Dimon had to undergo emergency heart surgery in 2020. Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management, is considered a dark horse in the leadership race. She has been at the firm for nearly 30 years. JPMorgan could surprise everyone and go with an outside hire, but that is very unlikely. Daily Mail reached out to the bank for comment. In April, the bank's Board of Directors identified potential successors to Dimon and all of them were internal candidates. Dimon himself was an internal hire. In 2000, he became the CEO of Bank One, overseeing that firm's operations until it merged with JPMorgan in 2004. He was first selected to be COO at JPMorgan before being hired as CEO in December 2005. All this jockeying at JPMorgan comes as Dimon made a headline-grabbing appearance Friday at the inaugural Regan National Economic Forum, where he talked with his usual brash candor about today's hot-button political issues. On a panel with CNBC's Morgan Brennan, he sounded the alarm about the ballooning national debt and warned that if the United States doesn't take its role as the world's sole superpower seriously, the US dollar could cease being the world reserve currency. He also advanced the idea that leaders at every level of government are bungling the country's future. 'The amount of mismanagement is extraordinary - by state, by city, for pensions, and that stuff is going to kill us,' he said. All these statements and more got Brennan to ask Dimon whether he'd consider running for office, a question that got many in the audience to gasp. 'What would be the scenario that you would entertain to consider public service?' she asked. Dimon paused for a beat, then said, 'Alright, ready? I'll tell you. If I thought I could really win, which I don't think I could.' That response apparently caught the eye of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who wrote a lengthy article about why Dimon could be a dynamic choice to be the next president. Anthony Scaramucci, a financier who served as White House communications director for 10 days in 2017 before being fired by Trump, posted about Sonnenfeld's Tuesday piece in Fortune Magazine , calling it 'spot on.' Sonnenfeld argued that Dimon is a commanding presence and a sensible moderate who could, if he decided to run as a Democrat, unite a party that is in complete disarray. The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats are largely without a true leader after Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in November. A CNN/Gallup poll released on Sunday seems to bear that out, with just 16 percent of Americans believing the Democratic party has strong leaders. Sonnenfeld also cast Dimon as an unapologetic truth-teller even when it doesn't suit him, writing that this is a 'rare quality found only in the best leaders.' As an example, he pointed to a leaked recording of Dimon at a company town hall , where he launched into a foul-mouthed rant against employees who wanted to continue working from home. Dimon also has a realistic claim to the centrist label, Sonnenfeld wrote, as he criticized both Democrats and Republicans. Although Dimon, a registered Democrat, continues to praise Trump for growing the economy in his first term, he hasn't been shy to slam the president for his Liberation Day tariffs and his decision to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve. In January 2024, he was far more conciliatory, saying, 'Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China.' Back then, he was warning that Democrats' incendiary rhetoric about Trump and MAGA could cost them the upcoming election. Whether or not the Democrats' approach to Trump supporters was the main factor in them losing, the fact is, Trump cruised to a second term relatively handily. Sonnenfeld wrote that Dimon could be the antidote to Trumpism, essentially saying that while Trump plays the role of a titan of industry, Dimon is the real deal. He pointed to Trump's multiple business bankruptcies, despite inheriting nearly half a billion from his father, Fred Trump.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Succession battle erupts at America's biggest bank as young bucks jostle to replace Jamie Dimon
JPMorgan Chase is making moves behind the scenes to eventually replace its longtime CEO Jamie Dimon, who is expected to retire within five years. Dimon, 69, indicated in a Monday interview with Fox Business that he intends to step away from America's largest consumer bank in 'several years,' adding that he loves the job. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan put Marianne Lake in charge of strategic growth and the firm's international consumer bank. Lake, 56, is one of the leading contenders to replace Dimon when the time comes, and her promotion suggests that she may be first in line. Lake took over from Sanoke Viswanathan, 50, who left to become the CEO of data company FactSet. She's now the head of JPMorgan's consumer and community banking division, which serves 84 million customers in the US. Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, who together lead JPMorgan's commercial and investment banking operations, are also vying for the top job. What Petno has going for him is his length of service. He's been at the bank for 35 years and has held numerous roles at the company. By comparison, Lake has been at JPMorgan for 25 years, while Rohrbaugh has been there for 20 years. Jenn Piepszak was a real possibility to become CEO several months ago. She effectively took herself out of the running when she accepted the COO job in January. Piepszak replaced former COO Daniel Pinto, who will serve as the company's president until he retires in 2026. Pinto, too, was once considered someone who could step into the CEO role, as he previously assumed those responsibilities when Dimon had to undergo emergency heart surgery in 2020. Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management, is considered a dark horse in the leadership race. She has been at the firm for nearly 30 years. JPMorgan could surprise everyone and go with an outside hire, but that is very unlikely. Daily Mail reached out to the bank for comment. In April, the bank's Board of Directors identified potential successors to Dimon and all of them were internal candidates. Dimon himself was an internal hire. In 2000, he became the CEO of Bank One, overseeing that firm's operations until it merged with JPMorgan in 2004. He was first selected to be COO at JPMorgan before being hired as CEO in December 2005. All this jockeying at JPMorgan comes as Dimon made a headline-grabbing appearance Friday at the inaugural Regan National Economic Forum, where he talked with his usual brash candor about today's hot-button political issues. On a panel with CNBC's Morgan Brennan, he sounded the alarm about the ballooning national debt and warned that if the United States doesn't take its role as the world's sole superpower seriously, the US dollar could cease being the world reserve currency. He also advanced the idea that leaders at every level of government are bungling the country's future. 'The amount of mismanagement is extraordinary - by state, by city, for pensions, and that stuff is going to kill us,' he said. All these statements and more got Brennan to ask Dimon whether he'd consider running for office, a question that got many in the audience to gasp. 'What would be the scenario that you would entertain to consider public service?' she asked. Dimon paused for a beat, then said, 'Alright, ready? I'll tell you. If I thought I could really win, which I don't think I could.' That response apparently caught the eye of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who wrote a lengthy article about why Dimon could be a dynamic choice to be the next president. Anthony Scaramucci, a financier who served as White House communications director for 10 days in 2017 before being fired by Trump, posted about Sonnenfeld's Tuesday piece in Fortune Magazine, calling it 'spot on.' Sonnenfeld argued that Dimon is a commanding presence and a sensible moderate who could, if he decided to run as a Democrat, unite a party that is in complete disarray. The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats are largely without a true leader after Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in November. A CNN/Gallup poll released on Sunday seems to bear that out, with just 16 percent of Americans believing the Democratic party has strong leaders. Sonnenfeld also cast Dimon as an unapologetic truth-teller even when it doesn't suit him, writing that this is a 'rare quality found only in the best leaders.' As an example, he pointed to a leaked recording of Dimon at a company town hall, where he launched into a foul-mouthed rant against employees who wanted to continue working from home. Dimon also has a realistic claim to the centrist label, Sonnenfeld wrote, as he criticized both Democrats and Republicans. Although Dimon, a registered Democrat, continues to praise Trump for growing the economy in his first term, he hasn't been shy to slam the president for his Liberation Day tariffs and his decision to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve. In January 2024, he was far more conciliatory, saying, 'Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China.' Back then, he was warning that Democrats' incendiary rhetoric about Trump and MAGA could cost them the upcoming election. Whether or not the Democrats' approach to Trump supporters was the main factor in them losing, the fact is, Trump cruised to a second term relatively handily. Sonnenfeld wrote that Dimon could be the antidote to Trumpism, essentially saying that while Trump plays the role of a titan of industry, Dimon is the real deal. He pointed to Trump's multiple business bankruptcies, despite inheriting nearly half a billion from his father, Fred Trump. Meanwhile, JPMorgan stock has risen nearly 1,100 percent since Dimon became CEO. Adding to Dimon's potential as a leading political figure, he is not accustomed to having someone telling him what to do, very much like Trump. When speculation bubbled up last year that both the Harris and Trump campaigns were considering Dimon as Treasury Secretary, he had this to say: 'I've not had a boss in 25 years and I am not ready to start now.'
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
JPMorgan gives consumer banking head Lake more responsibility as incumbent leaves
June 3 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab has given Marianne Lake, widely seen as a potential successor to CEO Jamie Dimon, the additional responsibility of managing its overseas consumer banking arm and strategic growth office, according to an internal memo on Tuesday. The change comes as incumbent Sanoke Viswanathan resigned as the CEO of JPMorgan's international consumer and wealth unit. Viswanathan will join as the CEO of FactSet (FDS.N), opens new tab from September, the financial data provider said. Lake is currently the CEO of JPMorgan's domestic consumer and community banking arm, which serves more than 84 million consumers in the United States. JPMorgan's international consumer banking business has gained over 2.5 million customers in the UK, and is set to expand across continental Europe and beyond, CEO Jamie Dimon and President Daniel Pinto said in the memo seen by Reuters. Viswanathan, 50, spent more than a decade at the Wall Street giant, and was also a member of JPMorgan's operating committee. He also oversaw the bank's international private bank and workplace solutions businesses within the asset and wealth management unit. While leading JPMorgan's strategy for many years, Viswanathan oversaw many of the bank's investments and acquisitions. Dimon, 69, said on Monday that his retirement was "several years" away, adding that he might stick around for a couple of years as chairman or executive chairman. Bloomberg News reported the development earlier in the day.
Entrepreneur
19-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
JPMorgan to Cut Headcount in Some Divisions Due to AI
The ranks of JPMorgan employees have swelled by more than 20% over the past five years. JPMorgan Chase is trying to use AI to cut down its headcount. At the company's annual investor day on Monday, JPMorgan's CEO of consumer and community banking, Marianne Lake, 56, gave a presentation predicting that AI would allow the bank to reduce employee numbers by 10% in the operations and account services departments. The operations division processes statements and payments, while the account services unit manages day-to-day transactions. Related: JPMorgan Says Its AI Cash Flow Software Cut Human Work By Almost 90% Lake, who runs Chase Bank and its credit card business, said that 10% was a modest estimate — the bank would most likely "deliver more" in headcount reductions. "I would take the over on this projection and bet that we will deliver more," Lake said, per Business Insider. She did not disclose a timeline for when the workforce reductions would occur or which roles they would impact. Marianne Lake. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images JPMorgan's Chief Financial Officer, Jeremy Barnum, 52, disclosed at the same investor day event that the bank would spend less than $95 billion on hiring this year as AI makes operations more efficient. That's a drop from $200 million in hiring efforts in 2023 and $100 million in 2024. "We're asking people to resist headcount growth where possible and increase their focus on efficiency," Barnum stated, per BI. "It's not just the amateurs who are helped by these [AI] tools. It's amazing stuff, and we have high hopes for the efficiency gain." JPMorgan's headcount has grown in recent years, swelling over 20% from 255,350 employees in 2020 to over 317,000 in 2024. At the same time, the bank's net income has doubled from $29.13 billion in 2020 to a record-high $58.5 billion in 2024. Related: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Isn't Worried About AI Taking Over Jobs — Here's Why Who will take over as JPMorgan CEO? At JPMorgan's investor day, investors were eyeing the executives who could possibly take over the CEO position from Jamie Dimon when he retires within the next four years. According to The Wall Street Journal, Lake is a top contender for the CEO spot. She started at the bank as an accountant and eventually became Chief Financial Officer from 2013 to 2019, before being promoted to her current position. The other two CEO hopefuls are reportedly the co-heads of JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank, Doug Petno, 59, and Troy Rohrbaugh, 55. Petno started as an investment banker at JPMorgan before eventually becoming the CEO of commercial banking from 2012 to 2024. Rohrbaugh joined JPMorgan in 2005 as a managing director and was previously the head of Macro Markets, which includes the bank's foreign exchange and emerging markets businesses. Related: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Shares Four Tips for Leaders Dimon said on Monday at the investor event that he still intends to retire as CEO within the next four years, though he and JPMorgan have yet to publicly announce a successor. "What we've told you is that the board has intent… to be thinking about succession, and we should be doing that," Dimon said, per Barron's. Dimon has led the bank since 2006. JPMorgan shares have skyrocketed by nearly 200% over the past five years.
