Keep pulling the thread on JPMorgan Chase.
JPMorgan Chase has a market capitalization of around $800 billion, making it the most valuable company in New York and east of the Mississippi River.
Upon joining Bank One as CEO, Jamie Dimon invested $60 million of his own money, representing half of his net worth, into the company's stock.
Upon arriving at Bank One, Jamie Dimon discovered the bank had more U.S. corporate credit risk than Citigroup and was using aggressive accounting practices.
After taking over Bank One, Jamie Dimon's team reduced the bank's balance sheet by approximately $50 billion to de-risk the company.
In 2004, Bank One merged with JPMorgan Chase, with Bank One shareholders receiving 42% of the combined company.
The merger agreement between Bank One and JPMorgan Chase stipulated that a 75% board vote would be required to prevent Jamie Dimon from becoming CEO after 18 months.
In 2006, Jamie Dimon began to stockpile liquidity at JPMorgan Chase due to concerns about cracks in the financial system, such as issues in the quant and subprime markets.
Leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, major investment banks increased their leverage from approximately 12 times to 35 times.
On March 13, 2008, JPMorgan Chase facilitated a one-day emergency loan for Bear Stearns after its CEO requested $30 billion in liquidity before Asian markets opened.
JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns for $2 a share, totaling approximately $1 billion, for a company that had recently been valued at $20 billion.
Following the acquisition of Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase was sued by the U.S. government and paid $5 billion related to bad mortgages originated by Bear Stearns.
JPMorgan Chase acquired Washington Mutual (WaMu) for a $30 billion discount to its tangible book value, which approximated the expected mortgage losses.