According to The Wall Street Journal, now that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) executive Michael Cavanagh is no longer at the bank, Matt Zames, the bank’s chief operating officer, is considered to be a potential favorite to take over when CEO Jamie Dimon finally decides to step down.
Since the financial crisis, Zames has climbed from relative obscurity to apparent front-runner partly thanks to a series of shake-ups in the wake of the “London Whale” trading debacle. While he has long been on the list of potential successors to Dimon, his case keeps getting stronger as other candidates depart and Zames continues a meteoric rise through the bank’s executive ranks.
He’s been one of Dimon’s go-to guys since at least 2008, when he was called upon to head to Bear Stearns headquarters late on a Thursday night after Bear CEO Alan Schwartz dialed up Dimon looking for help.
