FORTUNE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021 6922
TWO YEARS AGO, Marianne Lake and Jen-
nifer Piepszak swapped jobs, trading off as
company CFO and a high-ranking CEO of
the consumer bank. It was a moment that re-
vealed to industry watchers just how serious
JPMorgan Chase was about giving each ex-
ecutive the experience she would need to one
day, perhaps, take over the entire operation.
This year, JPM upped the ante—and set up
our first ever MPW list tie—by placing the pair
in the same job at the same time: co-CEOs of
consumer and community banking.
Neither woman is technically yet running a
Wall Street bank (that honor is still held only by
Jane Fraser at Citi), but this shared job is close.
With $51 billion in net revenue and $8 billion
in net income, Chase is larger than Goldman
Sachs and would be the sixth-largest bank on
Wall Street on its own.
The pair have complementary résumés.
Lake, 52, earned her stripes as a finance exec
with a knack for numbers that analysts find
remarkable, while Piepszak, 51, rose through
the ranks in corporate and investment bank-
ing positions.
In this co-CEO role, each is continuing to
build experience in areas in which she doesn’t
yet have much. Lake, a British transplant
to New York, oversees payments, lending,
and commerce—divisions like auto financeand card services—while Piepszak runs
consumer and business banking and wealth
management.
Some observers question why two women
have been placed in what seems to be a
face-off for the top job (the pair took over the
position from retiring exec Gordon Smith,
who ran the operation solo). Others are simply
skeptical that co-leadership roles at such a
high level can function successfully (although
job-sharing arrangements aren’t uncommon
in finance). “In the rare situations where it
works, it’s brilliant,” says Jane Stevenson, vice
chair of board and CEO services at leadership
advisory firm Korn Ferry. “But if you’ve got
competition between the two leaders, that
tends to create destructive or toxic elements.”
In public statements, Lake and Piepszak
have always emphasized their respect and
support for each other—and analysts say they
see both as prime contenders to succeed
Jamie Dimon (though likely not for a while,
given his new five-year, 1.5 million option
retention bonus). “You just look at them and
you’re impressed with how good they are,”
says Evercore analyst Glenn Schorr.
For those eager to see another woman run
a bank on Wall Street, an arrangement that
places two respected execs closer to the very
top is only good news. —Emma HinchliffeMarianne
Lake
Co-CEO of Chase Consumer
& Community Banking, 52,
JPMorgan Chase
Jennifer
Piepszak
Co-CEO of Chase Consumer
& Community Banking, 51,
JPMorgan Chase
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