JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon is back on the job after recovering from emergency heart surgery in early March.
“I have been recuperating well and getting stronger every day,” the bank CEO wrote in a Thursday morning memo to colleagues, “and I am happy to be back to work this week — albeit working remotely like so many of you.”
When Dimon, 64, went under the knife on March 5, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was over 26,000 points and the American economy was just starting to reckon with the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. The Dow opened at 20,819.46 points Thursday after jobless claims set an unprecedented and disturbing record of 6.6 million.
Many on Wall Street bemoaned Dimon’s absence as the COVID-19 crisis took hold, citing his voice as the longest-tenured financial CEO and veteran of the 2008 crisis as a potentially useful tool in calming markets and communicating with policymakers.
Dimon’s note seems to allude to the role he will play this pandemic-related economic collapse, working 45 blocks north of his Park Avenue corner office at his palatial Park Avenue co-op.
“The countries and citizens of the global community will get through this unprecedented situation,” Dimon said in the memo. “As always, JPMorgan Chase will play its critical part in helping the world recover. Our extraordinary capabilities prepare us for difficult times like this — we will rise to the challenge.”
Dimon also thanked JPMorgan co-presidents Gordon Smith and Daniel Pinto for stepping up to lead the bank during his recovery.