Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan.  And has been for a while.  He was at their helm during the 2008 global financial collapse.

The world lauds Dimon for successfully steering JP Morgan through that crisis.  I’m a little less laudatory.

It’s easy to swim the rapids when you have a healthy share of $29 trillion in government bailout money serving as giant floaties keeping your head above water.

But Dimon did seem to see what was coming in 2008.  And he tightened and adjusted what JP Morgan was doing to reflect that foresight.  So some kudos for that.  I guess.

Except then Dimon did this…:

“After the financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase & Co. faced significant challenges, leading to a dramatic increase in executive bonuses. The bank’s total compensation for its 222,315 employees rose to $26.9 billion, with a sharp increase in bonuses paid throughout the bank. The announced bonuses sparked outrage among critics who described the figures as ‘obscene.’”

Obscene doesn’t begin to cover it.

My “meh” perspective on Dimon is why I didn’t immediately respond a fortnight ago when he made headlines with his “Cockroaches” commentary…: (more…)