JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon undergoes emergency heart surgery

JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, 63, is recovering after emergency heart surgery for an "acute aortic dissection“ on Thursday, according to a memo sent to the bank's employees.

Why it matters: Dimon runs the nation’s biggest bank, and has been at the helm since 2005 — making him “the longest-serving leader of a major American bank,” per the New York Times. JPMorgan co-presidents Daniel Pinto and Gordon Smith will oversee the bank while Dimon recovers.

Read the full statement:

Dear Colleagues, Shareholders and Clients –

We want to let you know that Jamie experienced an acute aortic dissection this morning. He underwent successful emergency heart surgery to repair the dissection. The good news is that it was caught early and the surgery was successful. He is awake, alert and recovering well.

Our Lead Director, Lee Raymond, said today, “Our Board has been fully briefed on these developments and has asked Daniel and Gordon to lead the company during this period, as Jamie recuperates. We have exceptional leaders across our businesses and functions – led by our outstanding CEO and Co-Presidents. Our company will move forward together with confidence as we continue to serve our customers, clients, communities and shareholders.”

As Co-Presidents and Chief Operating Officers, we have been working hand-in-hand with Jamie and the Board over the past two years to help lead our company. This is in addition to directly running the firm’s Corporate & Investment Bank and Consumer & Community Banking businesses, which represent the majority of the firm’s businesses. We have also been deeply involved in all of the critical firmwide functions. 

Just last week, the firm hosted our Investor Day, where we provided comprehensive updates on our strategy and priorities going forward. We will continue to execute on all of these plans.

As we always have done, this is a time for all of us to stay focused on our important responsibilities. We know you all join us in wishing Jamie our very best and a smooth and speedy recovery.