This week, executives at JPMorgan Chase & Co. sold most of the shares for a total of about $169 million. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon led the charge, selling $150 million worth of stock for the first time in history at $182.73 per share.
In addition to Dimon, commercial and investment bank co-CEO Troy Rohrbaugh sold $13.7 million in assets, representing nearly a third (31%) of his shares in the bank, according to an analysis by insider stock sales firm InsiderScore. General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold $1.1 million worth of JPM stock, and Chief Information Officer Laurie Beer cashed out $716,400 worth of JPM stock. All sales were made pursuant to trading plans known as 10b5-1 plans, which allow executives and board members to sell shares at certain prices and times. Selling shares under a 10b5-1 plan also gives executives significant protection from potential insider trading charges, since executives develop plans when they do not have material inside information that could cause stock price fluctuations.
Dimon’s sale came on the same day JPMorgan shares traded above $182 for the first time, according to InsiderScore. When he became CEO in 2005, shares were trading at around $40. Dimon can sell another 178,000 shares under his current stock trading plan, which expires in August. He still owns 7.7 million shares of the bank and has no plans to leave just yet. Last year he described what he was looking for in a successor. “I think the most important features [are] that people trust and respect you, that you work as hard as you can, that you put yourself out there, that you know that you don’t know everything,” Dimon said.
Dimon received $36 million in compensation last year, including a base salary of $1.5 million and performance-based equity of $34.5 million.
In October, the bank announced that Dimon and his family would begin selling some of their shares for financial diversification and tax planning purposes. His family holdings include about 8.6 million shares, and Dimon still owns half a million in uninvested shares and stock appreciation rights related to 1.5 million shares.
JPMorgan requires Dimon to own at least 1 million shares or at least $75 million in shares. He is prohibited from holding shares in a margin account or pledging them as collateral. In accordance with the company’s governance principles, as a director, he is generally expected to refrain from selling shares that he has received as remuneration or shares that he has purchased himself on the open market.
In addition to Dimon and other executives, other senior bank executives have trimmed their holdings this month. Chief Risk Officer Ashley Bacon sold $603,000 worth of shares; Mary Erdos, CEO of the wealth and wealth management group, sold $862,000; Consumer and Community Banking CEO Marianne Lake sold $798,000 worth of shares; Commercial Bank CEO Douglas Petno sold $585,000; commercial and investment bank co-CEO Jennifer Pipsack sold $295,000; and Vice Chairman Peter Scher sold $324,000.
JPMorgan did not respond to a request for comment.