Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase, is a very smart guy. He got JPMorganChase moving out of mortgage-backed securities while the other big banks were moving further into them. He got Bears Stearns, and its $1 billion headquarters building at Madison and 46th, from Ben Bernanke for a song. His acquisition of WaMu turned out much better than Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide. He made it clear his bank didn’t want or need Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s $25 billion capital tranche and paid it back as soon as he could. I’ve observed him other the years and interviewed him and have been hugely impressed.
Dimon describes himself as a moderate Democrat. He endorsed Barack Obama in 2008, was mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary and has had meetings at the Obama White House. Now comes the news from the New York Post that Dimon has just attended a Mitt Romney fundraiser. The Post explains that he won’t formally endorse anyone because he’s on the board of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. But they quote his response when Obama dissed Wall Streeters as “fat cats.” “I don’t think the president of the United States should paint everyone with the same brush.”
Dimon grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but he also has more than a passing acquaintance with Chicago politics. He headed Bank One when it was headquartered in Chicago, then merged it into JPMorganChase. One of his interesting hires, to manage things in Chicago when he moved back to New York: Bill Daley, then the brother of the mayor of Chicago, now White House chief of staff.
I’m sure Dimon had no difficulty understanding one of the cardinal rules of Chicago politics, “Don’t back no losers.” That makes his apparent move to the Republicans very interesting.
