JPMorgan names Petno and Rohrbaugh co-presidents; Lake exits

JPMorgan Chase on Thursday promoted two of its top executives into newly created co-president roles, marking the latest step in CEO Jamie Dimon’s long-running succession planning while announcing the retirement of one of Dimon’s most prominent potential successors.

Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, who have jointly led the bank’s commercial and investment banking division since early 2024, were named co-presidents of JPMorgan effective immediately, according to a regulatory filing.

As part of the changes, Petno, 61, becomes the sole chief executive of the commercial and investment banking division, while Rohrbaugh, 56, will take over as CEO of the firm’s consumer and community banking division, succeeding Marianne Lake.

“The decision to elevate Doug and Troy to Co-Presidents and heads of the company’s two largest businesses reflects the Board’s confidence in their extraordinary leadership capabilities, business performance, relationships, experience and commitment to always doing the right thing,” Dimon said in a statement.

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

The moves reshape the leadership team beneath Dimon, 70, who has repeatedly said the bank’s board has multiple executives capable of eventually becoming CEO. By placing Petno and Rohrbaugh in charge of the firm’s two biggest and most important operating businesses while also elevating them to co-presidents, JPMorgan gives both executives broader management experience at a crucial time.

Dimon expects to remain CEO for roughly three more years, though that timeline could change, according to two people with knowledge of his thinking. The bank has said that after Dimon steps down, he will likely stay on as chairman to advise the new CEO.

Before the latest changes, Petno had the edge over Rohrbaugh in the succession race, but that gap has closed, according to the two people, who declined to be identified speaking about the bank’s plans. Either manager could take over for Dimon in the short term if needed, they said.

While Petno takes over sole control of the key Wall Street and commercial banking group that he has co-led for a few years, Rohrbaugh will now learn consumer banking after a career in institutional trading and markets businesses, a key step to expanding his resume.

Lake submitted her resignation after the board winnowed the successor shortlist to the two men, according to one of the people. The person told CNBC they expect Lake to find an executive role elsewhere.

Dimon said that Lake, who took over as sole head of the consumer banking division in 2024, was “an outstanding partner and friend and has dedicated her career to championing our people and customers, building world-class businesses and delivering results, always with unquestioned integrity.”

In another sign of their freshly minted status atop the succession list, Petno and Rohrbaugh each received one-time restricted stock bonuses valued at $30 million.

That is significantly more than the $20 million awards given to asset and wealth management CEO Mary Erdoes, another possible Dimon successor, and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak. Last year, Piepszak signaled that she wanted to be excluded from the succession shortlist.

The awards are separate from the executives’ annual pay and vest only after three years if JPMorgan hits an average return on tangible common equity of at least 12% between 2026 and 2028. The executives must also remain employed during that period, with no vesting for retirement, job elimination or government service.

The bank said the awards were intended to “preserve top qualified internal succession candidates” and maintain continuity among its operating committee during any future leadership transitions.

During his 20-year reign atop JPMorgan, Dimon has overseen the rise of a middling institution to what is now the biggest U.S. bank by assets and the world’s largest lender by market capitalization.

But whenever the topic of succession planning came up, Dimon has said that retirement was always five years away, in what became a running joke at the firm. In that time, several deputies have moved on to lead other organizations after losing patience that the top job would ever become available.

About two years ago, however, Dimon signaled that his retirement date, however murky that still is, was inching closer.

“The timetable isn’t five years anymore,” Dimon said at the bank’s 2024 annual investor meeting.