A senior JPMorgan Chase executive once thought to be a dark horse candidate in the race to succeed CEO Jamie Dimon is now a top contender for the role, according to a report.
Doug Petno, 59, is one of three people who have been mentioned as potential successors to Dimon alongside Troy Rohrbaugh and Marianne Lake, according to Bloomberg News.
Petno’s prospects to ascend to the chief executive role appeared dim when the commercial banking division that he headed within JPMorgan Chase was folded into another unit.
The restructuring led Petno to report to two other rising executives.
But his candidacy was unexpectedly boosted earlier this week after the nation’s largest lender announced that it was elevating Jenn Piepszak to the chief operating officer position — taking her name out of the running for the top slot.
Daniel Pinto, a top Dimon lieutenant who has spent four decades at the bank, will vacate the COO role later this year and retire.
The reshuffle included Petno being promoted to co-head of the combined commercial and investment banking division.
Petno is considered a highly valued member of Dimon’s leadership team — having helped expand JPMorgan Chase’s commercial banking division.
Under his leadership, commercial banking more than doubled its revenue, growing from $6.4 billion in 2011 to $15.5 billion in 2023, outpacing the firm’s overall 63% revenue growth in that period.
More recently, Dimon entrusted him with expanding JPMorgan’s footprint in Silicon Valley, targeting startups, venture capital firms and high-growth tech companies after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank.
“He’s a great client guy and a culture carrier — he built a great business in commercial banking, including the investment-banking partnership,” Dimon told Bloomberg News in an interview Friday.
“He’s also got a great sense of humor — one of the best on the OC.” The “OC” is the operating committee that runs JPMorgan Chase.
Another member of the operating committee is Rohrbaugh, who is co-CEO of the commercial and investment banking division.
Petno will now run that division, which is larger than Goldman Sachs, jointly with Rohrbaugh as a result of his promotion.
Lake runs the lender’s community and consumer banking division.
JPMorgan Chase declined to comment.
