JPMorgan Boss Jamie Dimon Names The Best CEOs, Says ‘Regulators Are Going To Regulate The Hell Out Of’ Bitcoin
JPMorgan Chase chief executive officer Jamie Dimon gave a wide-ranging interview to Axios this week. The interview touched on a multitude of topics, including China, his salary, racial equity, cryptocurrencies, and his favorite business leaders.
Dimon was asked, “Who’s the best CEO not named Jamie Dimon?”
Dimon replied, “[Amazon’s] Jeff Bezos … [Apple’s] Tim Cook.”
The banking exec elaborated on his opinion, “Innovation, drive. Serving customers — that singular focus … If you look at Amazon, look at what they built to do that,” including Amazon Web Services web hosting, and a logistics network that includes Amazon’s own planes.
In July, Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO, and now serves as executive chair of Amazon’s Board.
“In 2018, Dimon and Bezos attempted to go into business together creating a nonprofit joint venture along with Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett called Haven. The venture’s goal was aimed at fixing health care and lowing costs for their employers. However, the company shut down in January after the founding companies executed their projects separately,” CNBC reported.
Jamie Dimon – who has a net worth of $2 billion – was asked about his salary of roughly $31 million a year.
“We have a free market in this country, which … everyone should applaud,” Dimon responded. “We pay people to do a great job. They could all sell their services elsewhere. I need to maintain the best team on the playing field, and I need to pay them fairly.”
Axios CEO Jim VandeHei asked Dimon if Bitcoin is the fool’s gold of the future?
“It’s got no intrinsic value,” Jamie Dimon replied. “And regulators are going to regulate the hell out of it.”
Dimon said the cryptocurrency should be regulated.
“If people are using it for tax avoidance and sex trafficking and ransomware, it’s going to be regulated, whether you like it or not,” the JPMorgan head said. “So it’s not a moral statement. It’s a factual statement.”
“The Biden administration is considering ways to impose bank-like regulation on the cryptocurrency companies that issue stablecoins, according to people familiar with the matter, including prodding the firms to register as banks,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 1.
Dimon was asked about comparing the last two U.S. presidents: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
“It’s impossible to compare them. … I like the civility of Joe Biden … President Trump is very different alone than in public. … Joe Biden is the same,” explained Dimon, who has spent the last 27 years at the helm of JPMorgan Chase.