17 of Jamie Dimon's Most Brilliant Quotes

2019-03-22T16:58:00.000Z

Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is one of the most famous bankers in America.

The exec has a net worth of $1.3 billion, and since he took the helm of JPMorgan Chase at the end of 2005, he's helped it become the largest bank in the United States and the most valuable in the world by market capitalization.

He's also one of the most quotable execs out there — over the years, the billionaire hasn't been shy about sharing his opinion on the economy, politics, and what it takes to be successful.

We rounded up 17 of Dimon's most brilliant quotes, and they're presented below.

'Most decisions are not binary, and there are usually better answers waiting to be found if you do the analysis and involve the right people.'

Source: Business Insider

'If you’re going to be a leader, you know what I ask myself? Would I want to work for you in this job? Would I let my children work for you?'

Source: Bloomberg

'Finance went from being a small business, effectively, to being a big business. In part, that's the growth of the world's wealth. That's called savings.'

Source: Bloomberg

'America has the best hand ever dealt to any country on this planet, ever. Yes, we have problems, but you travel around the world, you'll see we have it all.'

Source: CNN

'I think I could beat Trump because I'm as tough as he is, I'm smarter than he is. I would be fine. He could punch me all he wants, it wouldn't work with me. I'd fight right back.'

Trump Jamie Dimon — US President Donald Trump shakes hands with JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Dimon fired off this volley at the POTUS in September 2018. Of course, it didn't take long before Trump fired back.

'If you want to be a winner, then compare yourself to the best and acknowledge that it will never happen without hard work.'

Source: JPMorganChase

'The term "too big to fail" must be excised from our vocabulary.'

Dimon said this in 2009, just a year after the financial crisis and near collapse of multiple auto companies wreaked havoc on the economy.

'Bureaucracy kills. Bureaucracy drives out good people, drives out innovation. It makes the person next to you a competitor and not a collaborator. And that’s a really bad idea inside a company.'

Source: Business Insider

'If you're stupid enough to buy it, you'll pay the price for it one day.'

Dimon said these harsh words about Bitcoin in October 2017. A few months later, he walked back the statement, saying he had come to see the merit in this unique type of financial instrument.

'You can never have equal outcomes, but you can have equal opportunity.'

Dimon continued: "When I say out loud, 'Fifty percent of inner-city schoolkids do not graduate from high school,' that is a national catastrophe. We should be ringing the alarm bells. It's not fair."

Source: Business Insider

'Abraham Lincoln never denigrated, never scapegoated, never finger-pointed. And he had reason to.'

Source: CNN

'My heart is Democratic but my brain is kind of Republican.'

Source: CNBC

'Don’t do anything stupid, and don’t waste money. Let everybody else waste money and do stupid things, then we’ll buy them.'

Source: "Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase"

'Remember that banks aren’t markets. The market is amoral. The market doesn’t care who you are. You’re a trade to the market.'

Source: Bloomberg

'On Wall Street there is no "Wall Street." There are individuals. So we have a lot of people who are Republicans, a lot of people who are Democrats, and it's not just because of business reasons.'

Source: Nikkei

'No one can forecast the economy with certainty, but most of us in business (have) got growth plans that have nothing to do with the actual state of the economy.'

Source: CNBC

'Humility is the realization that those who came before you paved the way. Never fool yourself into thinking that your success is just your own.'

Source: JPMorganChase

'Let everybody else waste money' — 17 of Jamie Dimon's most brilliant quotes

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

'Let everybody else waste money' — 17 of Jamie Dimon's most brilliant quotes

'Most decisions are not binary, and there are usually better answers waiting to be found if you do the analysis and involve the right people.'

'If you’re going to be a leader, you know what I ask myself? Would I want to work for you in this job? Would I let my children work for you?'

'Finance went from being a small business, effectively, to being a big business. In part, that's the growth of the world's wealth. That's called savings.'

'America has the best hand ever dealt to any country on this planet, ever. Yes, we have problems, but you travel around the world, you'll see we have it all.'

'I think I could beat Trump because I'm as tough as he is, I'm smarter than he is. I would be fine. He could punch me all he wants, it wouldn't work with me. I'd fight right back.'

'If you want to be a winner, then compare yourself to the best and acknowledge that it will never happen without hard work.'

'The term "too big to fail" must be excised from our vocabulary.'

'Bureaucracy kills. Bureaucracy drives out good people, drives out innovation. It makes the person next to you a competitor and not a collaborator. And that’s a really bad idea inside a company.'

'If you're stupid enough to buy it, you'll pay the price for it one day.'

'You can never have equal outcomes, but you can have equal opportunity.'

'Abraham Lincoln never denigrated, never scapegoated, never finger-pointed. And he had reason to.'

'My heart is Democratic but my brain is kind of Republican.'

'Don’t do anything stupid, and don’t waste money. Let everybody else waste money and do stupid things, then we’ll buy them.'

'Remember that banks aren’t markets. The market is amoral. The market doesn’t care who you are. You’re a trade to the market.'

'On Wall Street there is no "Wall Street." There are individuals. So we have a lot of people who are Republicans, a lot of people who are Democrats, and it's not just because of business reasons.'

'No one can forecast the economy with certainty, but most of us in business (have) got growth plans that have nothing to do with the actual state of the economy.'

'Humility is the realization that those who came before you paved the way. Never fool yourself into thinking that your success is just your own.'

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

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Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

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Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know