Jamie Dimon is back and he’s not running for US president.
The JPMorgan Chase CEO, in his first public speaking engagement since disclosing his diagnosis of throat cancer nearly three months ago, had a one-word answer when asked if he might consider a bid for the White House in 2016: “No.”
Dimon talked with a slight rasp and sipped water periodically as he sat on a panel today at an Institute of International Finance conference in Washington, fielding questions about risk, regulation, and more alongside Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan; James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley; and Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank.
In September, the 58-year-old Dimon finished eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The treatment has not zapped Dimon of his directness. “We fire a lot of people every year for doing bad, stupid things,” he said in response to a question about how his bank handles wrongdoers.
Though Dimon did not discuss his prognosis he did offer his outlook on the health of the economy. “America’s chugging along,” Dimon said. “I’m a real long-term bull on the U.S. economy.”