Keep pulling the thread on Jamie Dimon.
Jamie Dimon created the modern JPMorgan Chase by integrating the component parts of Bank One, JPMorgan Chase, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, and First Republic.
JPMorgan Chase has a market capitalization of over $800 billion, which is more than twice its nearest competitor.
Upon joining Bank One as CEO, Jamie Dimon invested $60 million, representing half of his personal net worth at the time, into the company's stock.
Upon joining Bank One, Jamie Dimon discovered the bank had more U.S. corporate credit risk than Citibank and was using "unbelievably aggressive" accounting for it.
Jamie Dimon's stress testing philosophy is to plan for the "worst ever" historical scenario; for example, he set the high-yield credit spread stress test at 17%, which was the historical worst, and it later hit 20% in 2008.
In 2004, Bank One merged with JPMorgan Chase in a deal where Bank One shareholders received 42% of the combined company.
The merger agreement between JPMorgan Chase and Bank One included a clause requiring a 75% board vote to prevent Jamie Dimon from becoming CEO after 18 months, effectively guaranteeing his succession.
In the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, major investment banks increased their leverage from approximately 12 times to 35 times, partly due to accounting rules and Basel I regulations.
In March 2008, JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns for an initial price of $2 per share, which was later raised to $10 per share.
On the night of its collapse, Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz informed Jamie Dimon that the firm needed $30 billion in liquidity before Asian markets opened.
The U.S. government later sued JPMorgan Chase over mortgages originated by Bear Stearns, resulting in a $5 billion payment by JPMorgan Chase.
Following the lawsuits related to the Bear Stearns acquisition, Jamie Dimon stated he "wouldn't really trust the government again" in similar crisis negotiations.