Dimon says JPMorgan on the lookout for acquisition worth up to $20B

JPMorgan Chase could deploy as much as $20 billion on an acquisition over the next few years, CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday at the Bernstein conference in New York City. The billionaire executive said the bank saw potential opportunities ahead and was on the lookout for the right deal.

“There might be, in the next couple years, a chance to put $10 [billion] or $20 billion to work buying something,” he said. A deal of that scale would be the largest under Dimon’s two-decade leadership.

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Dimon cautioned that acquisitions are not JPMorgan’s key growth engine and criticized companies that turn to M&A when organic growth slows. He stressed that any target would need to fit seamlessly into JPMorgan’s structure and culture and enhance its core operations.

“It can’t be just a pie-in-the-sky type of thing,” he said.

During Dimon’s 20-year tenure, JPMorgan has favored organic expansion instead of acquisition-driven growth, except for the opportunistic FDIC-brokered deals involving Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual and First Republic that were facilitated by regulators.

JPMorgan has also pursued smaller fintech deals but pulled back after its 2021 Frank acquisition, which later became controversial due to fraud revelations. Most recently, the firm acquired WealthOS to strengthen its presence in the UK personal investing and wealth management market.