Jamie Dimon

In two thousand, Jamie Dimon became chief executive of Bank One, a sprawling regional bank with outdated technology. He cut fifteen thousand jobs in the first year and closed four hundred branches. He consolidated back-office operations that five divisions ran. Every redundancy was eliminated. The bank's efficiency ratio dropped from sixty-five to fifty-two percent. By two thousand and four, Bank One was lean enough to merge with JPMorgan Chase without destroying value. Dimon stayed to run the combined entity. While other banks made mortgage-backed securities, Dimon instructed his team to originate mortgages and sell ninety-five percent. Only the highest-quality five percent stayed in house. JPMorgan's subprime exposure was minimal. When the two thousand and eight financial crisis hit, every other major bank needed bailouts. Citigroup needed seventy-five billion in TARP funds. A.I.G needed one hundred eighty-two billion. Washington Mutual collapsed and sold for one point nine billion.