JPMorgan CEO In Recovery After Heart Surgery, Bank's Co-Presidents Temporarily In Charge

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s JPM CEO James Dimon is in a hospital recovering from an emergency heart surgery.

What Happened

Dimon underwent a successful acute aortic dissection, said the bank in a memo released to its employees, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Daniel Pinto and Gordon Smith, the bank’s Co-Presidents and Co-COO’s said that Dimon’s condition was caught early, and the surgery was successful. They said he's “awake, alert and recovering well.”

The Wall Street Journal citing sources reported that Dimon, 63, was checked into a Manhattan hospital on Thursday after he suffered chest pains while getting ready for work. 

Why It Matters

JPMorgan board has been “fully briefed,” and Pinto and Smith were asked to “lead the company during this period, as Jamie recuperates,” according to the bank’s Lead Director, Lee Raymond.

The Co-Presidents said in the memo that they have been working “hand-in-hand” with Jamie and the Board over the past two years. Pinto and Smith also stated that they have also been directly running the company’s Corporate & Investment Bank and Consumer & Community Banking businesses. 

The two executives plan to carry out all of bank’s plans and assured employees that they have been “deeply involved” in all “critical firmwide functions.”

Price Action

JPMorgan shares traded 0.94% lower at $112.90 in the after hours session on Thursday. The shares had closed the regular session 4.91% lower at $113.97.

Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson via Wikimedia.