JPMorgan Chase Promotes Petno, Rohrbaugh to Copresidents, Adding to CEO Succession Pool
The promotions elevate two investment bankers as potential successors to CEO Jamie Dimon, while a long-considered contender retires.
JPMorgan Chase has promoted investment bankers Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh to copresidents, adding two more contenders to the pool of potential successors for CEO Jamie Dimon. The announcement came Thursday as Marianne Lake, a former chief financial officer and CEO of the consumer banking division, is retiring from the bank at year-end. Lake had been widely viewed as a potential successor.
The promotions signal that JPMorgan's board is considering leaders from its commercial and investment banking divisions for future leadership, though Rohrbaugh will now lead the bank's consumer business. Both Petno and Rohrbaugh rose through the ranks of the investment bank, with Petno focusing on client advisory and natural resources, while Rohrbaugh has a background in trading, particularly foreign-exchange derivatives.
"The changes announced today mark an important step in our Board’s thoughtful process around succession planning and development of our top leaders," Dimon said in a statement. "The bank also announced Thursday that Marianne Lake, who had held several top positions in the company including chief financial officer and CEO of the consumer banking division, will retire at the end of the year. Lake was long thought to be a potential person to take over the company when Dimon retired."
Two other women remain on JPMorgan's operating committee: Jennifer Piepszak, chief operating officer, and Mary Erdoes, who leads the asset and wealth management division. Both Piepszak and Erdoes, 55 and 58 respectively, received $20 million equity-based retention awards, which the bank stated were intended to preserve a broad bench of senior leaders during the succession planning process.
Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods noted that the promotion of Petno and Rohrbaugh, coupled with Lake's retirement, reshapes the succession field. They stated that the president-level roles have historically served as a stepping stone to the CEO position.
Dimon, 70, has been CEO since 2006 and has navigated the bank through various challenges, including health issues. He has repeatedly stated that the board of directors will determine the timing of his replacement. Whoever succeeds Dimon will take on one of the most influential roles in American corporate leadership, inheriting a bank led by an executive often seen as an elder statesman of the banking industry.