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> Recently this was Jamie Dimon lambasting Bitcoin all the while a cryptocurrency trading desk was being set up at Chase. But Jamie Dimon also has a reputatio

> Recently this was Jamie Dimon lambasting Bitcoin all the while a cryptocurrency trading desk was being set up at Chase. But Jamie Dimon also has a reputation of not being the smartest bulb in the block, and also being overly cautious so.... I think the GP statement is more correct though. A lot of fund managers love to gloat about their positions rather than talk the inverse.

cosmodisk 6y ago
You don't become a CEO of a large bank by being the smartest,this title usually belongs to the ones a few steps below.
- WJW 6y ago
  Perhaps a few quants in the bank have higher IQ, but you don't make it to CEO of a large bank by being stupid. A carefully cultivated image of being "not the smartest bulb" can be a powerful advantage. Making dumb mistakes when it doesn't matter can make people underestimate you at more crucial moments.
  - MegaButts 6y ago
    It's generally agreed upon that the CEO of Bank of America during the 2008 financial crisis is an idiot.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    Lol, this is some nth order thought going on here. Simon's dimness isn't proofed by some bullshit crafted image but by how laggardly JPMorgan is due to Dimon's innate cautiousness. Dimon is just lucky to be head of America's largest bank at the turn of '08. Next you'll tell me IBM is a highly innovative company, I reckon.
  - cosmodisk 6y ago
    I didn't mean the CEOs of large financial institutions are stupid( at least not most of them). To get to such positions by only being smart is never enough: there's a plethora of skills and personal traits that play their part.
missedthecue 6y ago
"he's not the smartest bulb in the block, and also being overly cautious so...." Being overly cautious makes you a smart banker. You do not move fast and break things in insurance or banking.
valuearb 6y ago
Jamie Dimon has a reputation for brilliance. His Bitcoin comments were spot on, people criticizing them don’t understand the regulations banks live under. BTC may be great, but it has no intrinsic value and trading it is pure speculation. That’s not appropriate use of bank capital. It’s probably not an appropriate use of most peoples capital.
- fakedang 6y ago
  I'm not pointing to his commentary on Bitcoin or whatever. I was just stating a fact, that Dimon isn't considered brilliant by any Mark by industry insiders in finance, just lucky during 08. He has been wrong on a lot of things, even though I actually agree with his crypto thesis.
  - valuearb 6y ago
    I’m not sure what you mean, his bank was the strongest and most highly capitalized during 2008. He famously had to be brow beaten into accepting federal bailout money. And brilliant doesn’t mean perfect. he’s had his share of mistakes, but his business record is one of the best.
    - fakedang 6y ago
      a.) Jamie Dimon had nothing to do with JPMorgan's strong financial position in 2008. He just lucked into the fact that JPM was not exposed to MBSs as heavily as the others. JPM did get exposed mightily in the flash crash of 2012 though, and that was under his watch. 2.) Where do you get this info that he was "brow-beaten" into accepting Fed money? Many of the banks, including others such as Wells Fargo and Boa didn't need the money either. That was just Hank Paulson's way of compensating them for the really expensive acquisitions, which none of the banks wanted to do really (JPM got Chase, Wells Fargo got Wachovia, BoA got Merrill Lynch, Buffett got Goldman Sachs and Lehman was left to die). 3.) There are way more brilliant bankers and financiers than Dimon in the financial industry. Steven Schwarzman and Peter Peterson built a behemoth investment firm from the ground up. Sergio Ermotti just engineered one of the best turnarounds for a big bank at UBS. Blankfein and now Solomon effectively shifted GS from their S&T desks to give more power to the Strats Tech teams, effectively changing the culture at GS, a sector where JPM is effectively lagging in spite of being the largest bank with the biggest resources. And this is not even taking into account some of the more brilliant bankers abroad. Compared to nitwists like Thain or Corbat or whoever, sure Jamie Dimon beats them. But there are way more brilliant bankers who actually built something. Jamie is the classic example of happened to be at the right place at the right time. I honestly don't know how this hero-worship of Dimon came to be - maybe it's those memes they have running around.

cosmodisk 6y ago

You don't become a CEO of a large bank by being the smartest,this title usually belongs to the ones a few steps below.

WJW 6y ago
Perhaps a few quants in the bank have higher IQ, but you don't make it to CEO of a large bank by being stupid. A carefully cultivated image of being "not the smartest bulb" can be a powerful advantage. Making dumb mistakes when it doesn't matter can make people underestimate you at more crucial moments.
- MegaButts 6y ago
  It's generally agreed upon that the CEO of Bank of America during the 2008 financial crisis is an idiot.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Lol, this is some nth order thought going on here. Simon's dimness isn't proofed by some bullshit crafted image but by how laggardly JPMorgan is due to Dimon's innate cautiousness. Dimon is just lucky to be head of America's largest bank at the turn of '08. Next you'll tell me IBM is a highly innovative company, I reckon.
- cosmodisk 6y ago
  I didn't mean the CEOs of large financial institutions are stupid( at least not most of them). To get to such positions by only being smart is never enough: there's a plethora of skills and personal traits that play their part.

missedthecue 6y ago

"he's not the smartest bulb in the block, and also being overly cautious so...." Being overly cautious makes you a smart banker. You do not move fast and break things in insurance or banking.

valuearb 6y ago

Jamie Dimon has a reputation for brilliance. His Bitcoin comments were spot on, people criticizing them don’t understand the regulations banks live under. BTC may be great, but it has no intrinsic value and trading it is pure speculation. That’s not appropriate use of bank capital. It’s probably not an appropriate use of most peoples capital.

fakedang 6y ago
I'm not pointing to his commentary on Bitcoin or whatever. I was just stating a fact, that Dimon isn't considered brilliant by any Mark by industry insiders in finance, just lucky during 08. He has been wrong on a lot of things, even though I actually agree with his crypto thesis.
- valuearb 6y ago
  I’m not sure what you mean, his bank was the strongest and most highly capitalized during 2008. He famously had to be brow beaten into accepting federal bailout money. And brilliant doesn’t mean perfect. he’s had his share of mistakes, but his business record is one of the best.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    a.) Jamie Dimon had nothing to do with JPMorgan's strong financial position in 2008. He just lucked into the fact that JPM was not exposed to MBSs as heavily as the others. JPM did get exposed mightily in the flash crash of 2012 though, and that was under his watch. 2.) Where do you get this info that he was "brow-beaten" into accepting Fed money? Many of the banks, including others such as Wells Fargo and Boa didn't need the money either. That was just Hank Paulson's way of compensating them for the really expensive acquisitions, which none of the banks wanted to do really (JPM got Chase, Wells Fargo got Wachovia, BoA got Merrill Lynch, Buffett got Goldman Sachs and Lehman was left to die). 3.) There are way more brilliant bankers and financiers than Dimon in the financial industry. Steven Schwarzman and Peter Peterson built a behemoth investment firm from the ground up. Sergio Ermotti just engineered one of the best turnarounds for a big bank at UBS. Blankfein and now Solomon effectively shifted GS from their S&T desks to give more power to the Strats Tech teams, effectively changing the culture at GS, a sector where JPM is effectively lagging in spite of being the largest bank with the biggest resources. And this is not even taking into account some of the more brilliant bankers abroad. Compared to nitwists like Thain or Corbat or whoever, sure Jamie Dimon beats them. But there are way more brilliant bankers who actually built something. Jamie is the classic example of happened to be at the right place at the right time. I honestly don't know how this hero-worship of Dimon came to be - maybe it's those memes they have running around.