An old story, but I wasn’t aware Charlie was demoted at Chase. I also read news stories about Chase acquiring Washington Mutual as being “Charlie’s baby.” Chase was haunted for nearly 10 years with WAMU’s bad loans, which is probably why Jamie moved Charlie to a less senior role.
J.P. Morgan Overhauls Management
A Longtime Lieutenant to CEO James Dimon Is Replaced at the Retail Bank
By Dan Fitzpatrick
June 15, 2011
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. boss James Dimon replaced longtime lieutenant Charles Scharf, who oversaw a large retail-banking and mortgage unit that is still reeling from the U.S. housing crisis.
The decision to move Mr. Scharf, who first began working for Mr. Dimon more than two decades ago, to a less senior role is part of a management shakeup that also includes the planned retirement of Heidi Miller, another of Mr. Dimon's longtime allies. Although Mr. Scharf is joining the bank's small private-equity arm, analysts say he is now an unlikely successor to the 55-year-old Mr. Dimon, who has served as chief executive since 2005.
Mr. Scharf, 46, had been considered one of the leading candidates as the head of J.P. Morgan's huge retail bank—a division that produced 30% of the bank's revenue in 2010. He will no longer be a member of the bank's operating committee, the company's top decision-making body.
"Going from running the [retail bank] to being a partner in their private investment arm, most people would say on the surface it looks like a lateral to a downtick move," said Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets. "Certainly that would not help" his chances of succeeding Mr. Dimon, Mr. Cassidy added.