JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon backpedaled Wednesday after saying a day earlier that his bank would outlive China’s dictatorial government...
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon backpedaled Wednesday after saying a day earlier that his bank would outlive China’s dictatorial government.
CNBC reported that Dimon was at a business event in Boston on Tuesday when he cracked a joke at the expense of the Chinese Communist Party.
“The Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year. So is JPMorgan,” Dimon said. “I’d make a bet that we last longer.”
“I can’t say that in China,” the billionaire banker added. “They probably are listening anyway.”
Dimon quickly issued an apology.
“I regret and should not have made that comment. I was trying to emphasize the strength and longevity of our company,” he said in a statement issued by JPMorgan.
A bank spokesperson said Dimon knew he should “never speak lightly or disrespectfully about another country or its leadership.”
“During the discussion Jamie made clear China and its people are very smart and very thoughtful,” the spokesperson said.
According to CNBC, JPMorgan has major interests in China. In August, the bank was approved by Beijing as the first foreign-owned securities broker in the country.
This month, Dimon was granted an exemption allowing him to enter Hong Kong without having to quarantine. Most visitors to the city must quarantine in a hotel for two to three weeks at their own expense.
Dimon was excoriated on Twitter for apologizing for his comments.
This isn’t the first time Dimon has eaten his words, according to CNBC.
In 2018, he said while speaking at a conference that he could beat then-President Donald Trump in an election because he was smarter than Trump. He added that he had earned his fortune rather than getting it from his father.
Within an hour, he issued a statement saying he should not have made the remarks.
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