JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has sold off roughly $150 million in bank shares, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The sale comprised 821,778 shares and aligns with plans he made in October to sell 1 million of his family’s total 8.6 million shares for “financial diversification and tax-planning purposes.”
“This is Mr. Dimon’s first such stock sale during his tenure at the company,” the bank said at the time. “Mr. Dimon continues to believe the company’s prospects are very strong and his stake in the company will remain very significant.”
Dimon has held the bank’s top post since 2005. He was previously CEO of Bank One, acquired by JPMorgan in 2004, and spent his first year post-merger as JPMorgan’s president and operations chief before becoming CEO.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan confirmed Friday the sale was “part of the plan we announced last October saying that Jamie planned to sell about one million shares in 2024 under a 10b5-1 program.”
Rule 10b5-1, established by the SEC in 2000, allows major shareholders of public companies to sell a pre-set number of shares at a pre-set time. 10b5-1 programs are used to avoid insider trading accusations.
Moves to offload stock naturally fuel speculation about retirement timelines. In past years, when asked succession, Dimon, who turns 68 in March, often would respond his timeline was five years.
To that end, JPMorgan in 2021 gave Dimon a special $50 million grant of share options that he can’t touch until 2026 — and won’t reach full value until 2031.
But the bank last month did appear to position two — or perhaps three — executives as potential Dimon successors, appointing Marianne Lake as sole head of JPMorgan’s consumer and community banking division. Lake previously shared that role with Jennifer Piepszak, who was named co-CEO of JPMorgan’s expanded commercial and investment bank, alongside Troy Rohrbaugh.
A bank spokesperson told the Financial Times in October that Dimon’s stock sale had no connection to succession planning, adding he had “no plans to enter into another such sale but will of course consider his financial planning needs over time.”
Dimon was paid $36 million in 2023, the bank disclosed last month. That represents a roughly 4% boost from the previous year.
