JPMorgan names Petno and Rohrbaugh co-presidents; The lake is coming out

JPMorgan Chase on Thursday promoted two of its top executives to newly created co-chairman roles, marking the latest step in longtime CEO Jamie Dimon’s succession plan while also announcing the departure of one of Dimon’s potential successors.

Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, who have co-led the bank’s commercial and investment banking division since early 2024, have been named co-presidents of JPMorgan immediately, according to an official filing.

As part of these changes, Petno becomes the sole CEO of the commercial and investment banking division, while Rohrbaugh will take over as CEO of the firm’s consumer and community banking division, replacing Marianne Lake.

“The decision to promote Doug and Troy to Presidents and heads of the company’s two largest businesses reflects the Board’s confidence in their exceptional leadership abilities, business performance, relationships, experience and commitment to doing the right thing every time,” Dimon said in a statement.

Lake, a 25-year JPMorgan veteran who has been on Dimon’s short list of potential successors since serving as CFO since 2013, decided to step down from the firm, according to the filing.

These moves reshape the leadership team under Dimon, 70, who has repeatedly said the bank’s board has many executives who could end up as CEO. By putting Petno and Rohrbaugh in charge of two of the company’s largest and most important operating businesses while also promoting them to co-presidents, JPMorgan is giving both executives extensive management experience at a critical time.

That would likely make one of the two men Dimon’s successor, with his departure among the most watched questions on Wall Street.

While Petno takes sole control of Wall Street and the commercial banking group he has co-led for several years, Rohrbaugh will now study consumer banking after a career in institutional trading and market business, an important step to expand his resume.

Dimon said Lake, who took over as the sole head of consumer banking in 2024, “was a great partner and friend and has dedicated his career to fighting for our people and clients, building world-class businesses and delivering results, always with unquestionable integrity.”

In another signal of their newly minted status on the list, Petno and Rohrbaugh received one-time restricted stock bonuses totaling $30 million.

That’s far more than the $20 million in bonuses given to wealth management CEO Mary Erdoes, one of Dimon’s potential successors, and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak. Last year, Piepszak revealed that he wanted to be removed from the list of successors.

The awards are separate from the executives’ annual salary and are only awarded after three years if JPMorgan achieves an average return on tangible common equity of at least 12% between 2026 and 2028. Managers must also remain employed during that time, without being paid for retirement, termination of employment or government service.

The bank said the awards were intended to “retain the most suitable people to follow on from within” and maintain continuity within the executive committee during any future leadership changes.

During his 20-year tenure at JPMorgan, Dimon oversaw the central bank’s rise to become America’s largest bank by assets and the world’s largest lender by market capitalization.

But whenever the topic of succession planning came up, Dimon said retirement was always five years away, in what became a running joke at the company. Meanwhile, several deputies have moved on to lead other organizations after losing patience that the top job will ever be found.

However, about two years ago, Dimon indicated that his retirement date, while still in the dark, was approaching.

“The timeline is not five years away,” Dimon said at the bank’s 2024 annual investor meeting.