"We've been doing nothing but investing in this town."
On Nov. 2, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon came to Seattle to address business leaders at an event put on by the University of Washington’s business school. The event attracted a great deal of heat from the Occupy Seattle protesters, which we wrote about: “Anatomy of a protest: Occupy Seattle vs. Jamie Dimon of Chase.”
Reporters were not allowed into the event to hear what Dimon had to say, though some were allowed to interview himbefore hand. KPLU was not among them.
We got a copy of a video of the event through the Freedom of Information Act. Inside, you can watch several snippets of his responses to questions as well as the full video of his speech at the Business Leadership Celebration event.
In most of his responses, Dimon sounds a lot like someone gearing up to run for office. However, he does say in the video: “I’m not suited for office.” Judge for yourself.
Here Dimon talks about legitimate anger at some in Wall Street:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXbN0zDoeQI&feature=youtu.be
Here Dimon talks about balancing telling the truth with keeping up optimism in times of crisis. He also criticizes the style of U.S. political leaders when addressing tough times.
“What they should say … Folks you are going to fight a battle-hardened enemy. That’s the truth. But you have the best training, best equipment, we shall prevail so help us God. As opposed to the whiny crap you hear all the time,” Dimon says in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H8csGwV0d4&feature=youtu.be
In this video clip, Dimon says he isn’t “suited” for politics and tells the story of why JP Morgan Chase took $25 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). He also reads from a letter he sent United States Secretary of the Treasury head Timothy Geithnerwhen Chase paid back the TARP funds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Px_uGn_qY&feature=youtu.be
Here is the full video of his speech at the UW event. In his opening remarks, Dimon sounds to us a lot like someone preparing to run for elected office. What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqtLMmiwxI4&feature=youtu.be
