JPMorgan Investors Urged to Split Chair and CEO Positions

Investors have been urged by industry advisers to vote in favour of splitting the role of CEO and Chair at JPMorgan, the US’s largest bank, amid concerns over the amount of power exercised by its head executive Jamie Dimon.

ISS and Glass Lewis, two advisory firms in corporate governance to some of the world’s biggest fund managers on how to vote during annual investor meetings, have weighed in on the balance of power at JPMorgan, suggesting that two separate people should hold the CEO and Chair positions “as soon as possible”.

Jamie Dimon, who is worth an estimated US$2.6bn, has held both roles since 2006. 

While critics say a senior executive holding two positions could diminish the effectiveness of both roles, holding two positions in corporate governance circles isn’t banned – many top company executives like Larry Fink of BlackRock and Satya Nadella of Microsoft serve as both Chair and CEO.   

The bank’s investors will vote on the resolution at JPMorgan’s annual general meeting on 19 May.

Enhancing board oversight with independent leadership

Discussing the prospect of Jamie helming both positions, ISS says the “size and complexity of JP Morgan suggests that it is difficult for any one person to run both the company and the board”.

“The board is responsible for overseeing management and instilling accountability, and conflicts of interest may arise when one person holds both the chairman and CEO positions, thereby leading both the management team and the board which oversees it.

“Effective board oversight may be enhanced by independent leadership.”

Glass Lewis furthers this point, adding that an independent chair is “better able to oversee the executives of the company and set a pro-shareholder agenda".

This isn’t the first time Jamie has been at odds with ISS and Glass Lewis. He has previously accused both advisory firms of having too much influence over shareholders, in particular with social and environmental issues.

The conflict between the three gained further momentum when the US government intervened, with President Trump signing an executive order on 11 December 2025, aimed at reducing the policy-shaping power of the Canada-based advisory firms, which he claimed were using their power “to advance and prioritise radical politically motivated agendas”.

A month on from the bank’s clash with the two firms, JPMorgan cut all ties with proxy advisory firms and instead opted for its own AI-powered platform to inform its decision-making during annual general meetings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The bank is urging investors to oppose the shareholder proposal suggested by an individual retail investor and backed by ISS and Glass Lewis. It adds that there is no evidence that companies with independent chairs performed better than companies with CEOs who additionally helm the chair position.

It also adds that the suggestion of an independent chair overseeing executives and setting a pro-shareholder agenda more effectively than an internal chair “omits any reference to or consideration of JPM’s strong record of absolute and relative outperformance versus peers”.

An increase in dual-title executives

While JPMorgan’s board have stated they intend to separate the two roles after Jamie steps down as CEO, ISS say there is “a clear possibility” he would stay on as chair, meaning any lead independent board member would still effectively be under Jamie’s leadership.

As firms continue to flatten management to reduce bureaucracy and speed decision-making, more and more C-suite responsibilities across the industry are being adopted by singular executives 

Over the last decade, the number of C-suite executives with more than two titles has increased by 121%, according to Korn Ferry. 

10% of that growth has come in the last two years, as firms continue to restructure operations to keep pace with the AI boom.

“A lot of responsibilities are flowing up to executive leadership,” says Torrey Foster, a Vice Chairman in the Board and CEO Services practice and managing partner for North American consumer markets for Korn Ferry.

He adds: “Each C-suite role is a full-time job, so boards have to ask how much and how well each additional role given to an executive is being done.”