JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon to Sell 1 Million Shares

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and his family plan to sell 1 million shares of JPMorgan stock.

They are doing so for financial diversification and tax-planning purposes, starting in 2024, the bank said in a Friday (Oct. 27) filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“This is Mr. Dimon’s first such stock sale during his tenure at the company,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in the filing. “Mr. Dimon continues to believe the company’s prospects are very strong and his stake in the company will remain very significant. He and his family currently hold approximately 8.6 million shares, and in addition he continues to have uninvested Performance Share Units relating to 561,793 shares and Stock Appreciation Rights relating to 1,500,000 shares, subject to the terms on conditions of each grant.”

The 1 million shares are worth approximately $141 million and represent less than 12% of Dimon’s holdings in the bank, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Dimon’s first stock sale comes about 18 years after he took the helm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to the report. Having been in the top position since the end of 2005, he is the longest-serving CEO of a major U.S. bank.

Under his leadership, JPMorgan’s shares have increased by over 250% during his tenure, the report said. This performance has helped propel Dimon’s net worth to approximately $2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Piper Sandler analysts R. Scott Siefers and Frank Williams, who have an overweight rating on JPMorgan shares, noted that the sale will draw attention given that it is Dimon’s first such transaction since joining the company, per the report.

They also mentioned that the decision seems prudent and necessary for diversification purposes, per the report. While the announcement of the planned sale may cause some near-term weakness in JPMorgan’s stock, the analysts said they do not find fault with Dimon’s decision.

As of early New York trading, JPMorgan shares slipped 1.1% to $139.20, according to the report.

In JPMorgan Chase’s most recent earnings report, the bank said it had seen resilient card spending but a drawdown of deposits and a gradual uptick in charge-offs.

In a statement accompanying the Oct. 13 earnings report, Dimon said that “this may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”