Already a member? Log In

A Chamath Humbling, President Dimon Chatter & Elliott’s Triumph

JPMorgan Chase C.E.O. Jamie Dimon.
JPMorgan Chase C.E.O. Jamie Dimon. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
June 4, 2023

To be honest, I am not sure what is motivating all this “Jamie Dimon for President” chatter outside of an unsolicited tweet from Bill Ackman and some recent playfully enigmatic commentary from Dimon, himself, about his interest in spending his third act in politics. It seems highly unlikely, to say the least, that Jamie would actually want to run for president: eating corn dogs, running around the country playing the retail game, and giving up his perch as the country’s most important banker. Ackman was certainly right that “we need an exemplary business, financial, and global leader to manage through what is likely to be a critically important decade for our country in determining our destiny.” But let’s take a step back from the edge of hysteria here and be realistic for a moment. 

Jamie Dimon is a white, 67-year-old Wall Street C.E.O. On paper, and to voters who have never heard of him, he’d almost be like a Manchurian candidate put forth by the Republicans—a Mitt Romney to the power of Mitt Romney. This is such an absurd longshot that it is simply not going to happen. It’s not even worth contemplating.