JPMorgan entices Jamie Dimon with “special” stock award to stay as CEO
JPMorgan has granted Jamie Dimon 1.5m stock options, which could swell to tens of millions of dollars, to entice him to stay at the bank for a “significant number of years”.
Dimon has been awarded the 1.5m options in the form of “stock appreciation rights” at Tuesdays average price of $148.73, that will allow him to capture a profit if the stock price rises in the coming years.
JPMorgan’s internal forecasts predict the options could make a profit of around $49m for Dimon after a 10 year vesting schedule, according to Financial Times reports.
65-year-old Dimon is one of the longest-serving chief executives on Wall Street, and is the only sitting executive that led a major bank through the financial crisis.
The options will become exercisable by 20 July 2026 and must be held for five years, which coincides with the ten-year term of the options, JP Morgan said in a regulatory filing and added, “Vesting is subject to continuous leadership of the firm, with certain limited exceptions.”
Dimon’s award is also subject to recovery provisions that enable the bank to clawback shares in the future.
“In making the special award, the Board considered the importance of Mr. Dimon’s continuing, long-term stewardship of the firm, leadership continuity, and management succession planning amidst a highly competitive landscape for executive leadership talent,” the bank’s filing said.
“The board also took into account other factors, including the firm’s strong performance under Mr. Dimon’s stewardship since 2005, his exemplary leadership, and his significant contributions to the firm’s success during his tenure.”
Dimon has led JP Morgan for over a decade, turning the bank into a global behemoth through crisis-era acquisitions and opportunistic market share grabs, and is a larger-than-life figure on Wall Street.
He underwent emergency heart surgery in last year, and is also a cancer survivor.