Dimon, who was paranoid by his very nature, understood the intricacies of virtually every aspect of banking (unlike many of his CEO peers) and also reduced risk; profits were literally squeezed out of each part of the company. Most important, as the credit crisis began to spread, Dimon showed himself to be infinitely more prudent than his competitors. The bank used less leverage to boost returns and didn’t engage in anywhere near the same amount of off-balance-sheet gimmickry. So while other banks began to stumble severely after the market for subprime mortgages imploded, JP Morgan stayed
...more
