JAMIE DIMON OF JPMORGAN CHASE ON STEERING AMERICA'S BIGGEST BANK THROUGH 'INFLATIONARY' TIMES

CEO JAMIE DIMON has led JPMorgan Chase through periods of rapid change and epic turmoil—and Jan. 1, 2026, will be his 20th anniversary in the role.

- BY ALYSON SHONTELL

He shepherded Wall Street through the 2008 financial crisis, navigated the collapse of First Republic and Silicon Valley Bank, and counseled world leaders in the wake of April’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Along the way, the company became America’s biggest bank, with operations worldwide and more than $4 trillion in assets under management. Over that time, Dimon has become a go-to advisor to U.S. presidents from both parties. He has also coped with two major health issues: a battle with throat cancer, and heart surgery that took place just as COVID went global.

All of this experience has left him with the desire to “live deliberately,” as he puts it, around three major priorities: his family, his country, and his job. In October, at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., Dimon and I had a wide-ranging conversation and took questions from the audience about where his deliberations are leading him. The following are edited excerpts; find the discussion in full at fortune.com.

Give us your current global economic snapshot.

The global economy is inscrutable. But it’s always that way. What you have to do is compare it to an average, and an average is more complicated. It’s more complicated because of trade and tariffs. It’s more complicated with huge global deficits. Inflation is not going away. The geopolitical situation, the remilitarization of the world—these are fairly serious things.

I’m in the cautious category, and I'm also made cautious by the fact that asset prices are high, in some form of bubble territory. It looks like the markets have priced in a continued soft landing.

If you look at next year, what are the odds of a recession? The market's pricing in about 10%, but I'd say 20% to 30% is more accurate. It’s not one thing that’s going to break the camel’s back. It’s always a confluence of factors.