Workers renovate a sunken outdoor plaza at the base of Chase Tower in Chicago on June 26, 2024. When New York’s J.P. Morgan Chase announced in January 2004 that it was buying Bank One, formerly the First National Bank of Chicago, there was much civic hand-wringing over the loss of the city’s last hometown banking giant.
Without the merger, Dimon said, the struggling Chicago-based bank might not have thrived, or even survived, the post-millennium financial crises to come. The son of a stockbroker, Dimon earned his MBA from Harvard in 1982 and began his financial career at American Express. He then moved on to Commercial Credit, which through a series of acquisitions over more than a decade, Dimon helped build into banking behemoth Citigroup.
A free agent, Dimon considered a number of options including an offer to become CEO of Home Depot. But when Bank One came calling, Dimon jumped at the challenge of building, or in this case, rebuilding a major bank. “I actually, even back then, thought if there would ever be a natural merger, it might be with a J.P. Morgan-type,” Dimon said.
Chase Tower in Chicago’s Loop is seen on June 26, 2024. Work has begun on improvements that include a new fitness center, an updated food hall, a refreshed outdoor plaza and enhanced conference centers. for $58 billion. Dimon was named president of the combined bank, which kept the newly stylized JPMorgan Chase name and New York address. He was elevated to CEO in 2006 and chairman the following year.
After exploring other locations, Chase decided to double down on the tower, which represents a commitment to both the struggling Loop and the distinctive building itself.