Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, would like to make it clear that he is not that kind of banker.
“I’ve disagreed right from the beginning of this blanket blame of all banks,” Dimon said in an interview with Charlie Gasparino of the Fox Business NetworkTuesday. “I don’t like that. I think that’s just a form of discrimination that should be stopped.”
Dimon, who has been CEO of JPMorgan Chase since 2005, didn’t get specific about whom he’d rather not be lumped in with. He seemed, though, to be trying to draw a distinction between his own company — which accepted a bailout from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, but is generally seen as having weathered the financial crisis better than many other major firms — and banks that needed a greater degree of government assistance during and after the meltdown.
But Dimon’s critics may not be persuaded by his argument. After all, JPMorgan Chase received $25 billion through the U.S. Treasury under TARP and at least $3 billion from the Federal Reserve in 2008 — the same year that Dimon took home about $19.7 million in salary, stock and options. Dimon’s compensation later climbed to $23 million in 2010 and 2011, as JPMorgan overtook Bank of America to become the nation’s largest bank by assets.
