We’ve been through a number of cycles where Jamie Dimon’s name rises as a possible, or even likely, contender for public office. In mid-November 2016, the Trump transition team approached the JPMorgan Chase CEO about becoming secretary of the Treasury and spread the word he was poised to accept the job. A top TV anchor even declared that he did accept. During 2018, Dimon reportedly mulled a run for president, but nixed the idea when the Democrats’ leftward tilt hammered the chances for the Wall Street tycoon.
Then in late May and the first week of June, another round of “Dimon as savior of America’s fiscal future” took flight. In a May 31 interview on Bloomberg TV, Dimon now famously stated that “I love my country, and maybe one day I’ll serve my country in one capacity or another.” That mere expression of interest inspired Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, to issue hours later a passionate, 15-paragraph tweet urging Dimon enter the 2024 contest for the White House. “We need an exemplary business, financial and global leader to manage through…a critically important decade,” wrote Ackman, who called on voters to push Dimon toward a run by barraging the CEO with emails and tweets “to build a groundswell of support.”
Of course, the prospects that America’s greatest banker would declare as a presidential contender were always remote. On the morning of June 5, his Vegas Insider odds of becoming our next POTUS stood at 150 to 1, on a par with those of Chris Christie and Beto O’Rourke, but significantly, well above zero. Surprisingly, in the five days following the “one day I’ll serve my country” interview, Dimon didn’t issue an outright denial. Meanwhile, speculation kept building, epitomized by such headlines as “JPMorgan Chief Teases Possible Presidential Run” and “Wall Street Is Trying to Shake Up the 2024 Race.”
To resolve this not-too-much-of-a-mystery, this reporter reached out to JPMorgan for a definitive response. On June 4, I received the following statement: “As he has said in the past, Jamie has no plans to run for office. He is very happy in his current role.” So now it’s official: Fortune can report that Jamie Dimon won’t run for president in 2024.
In his tweet, Ackman stressed Dimon’s possible role in solving the deficit and debt problem that, if left uncorrected, will exert a heavy drag on America’s future growth and undermine the well-being of future generations. Indeed, Dimon would be an ideal leader to promote a Simpson-Bowles-like plan that would shore up both Social Security and Medicare and gradually lower the trajectory of runaway borrowing that, if left unchecked, can only be addressed by gigantic tax increases or rampant inflation. Dimon is a strong, instinctive leader, but he may be too blunt and outspoken to evolve into a natural politician. In a role like secretary of the Treasury, this numbers man would be terrific at showing America how scary and unsustainable the budget numbers really are. Above all, Jamie Dimon is a truth teller. A White House march may not be in his future, but tackling head-on the problems that few politicians are willing to face could prove a stirring second act.
