NEW YORK MUST FIGHT TO COMPETE WITH CITIES WORLDWIDE, DIMON SAYS

(Bloomberg) -- New York City is “obviously the financial center of the world,” but needs to stay competitive to keep that title, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.

“No one has the right, in my view, to think they have a divine right to success,” Dimon said Tuesday at the Economic Club of New York. “You’ve seen it with cities, you’ve seen it with governments, you’ve seen it with countries — people go the wrong way.”

JPMorgan has been building a new headquarters at 270 Park Ave., which Dimon has said will be the “best building in the United States and in fact probably the world.” Still, he’s taken aim at New York City’s policies around business, and in February applauded Texas for its friendlier approach.

Dimon said Tuesday that when he joined JPMorgan two decades ago, the firm had 35,000 people in New York — more than triple what it had in Texas. Now the firm, which had nearly 312,000 employees worldwide at the end of March, has more workers in Texas than in New York.

“When I started working, most cities were not that attractive,” Dimon said. “Now every place is competitive,” he added, naming cities including London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Miami, Nashville and Austin as examples.

In the wide-ranging conversation, Dimon also touched on the economy, saying he’s on the “cautious side” when it comes to whether there will be a soft landing, but that even if there is a recession, US consumers are “in good shape.”

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2024-04-23T17:54:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd