JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Tesla chief Elon Musk, as soon as adversaries in a protracted authorized battle, have settled their variations, the banker advised CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.
“Elon and I have hugged it out,” Dimon mentioned, whereas praising Musk for operating a number of high-profile firms equivalent to Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink. “The guy is our Einstein.”
The largest US lender had sued Tesla in 2021, kicking off a drawn-out dispute that was at the least partly tied to Musk’s notorious 2018 tweet the place he mentioned he had “funding secured” to take the EV large non-public, solely to desert that plan just a few weeks later.
Tesla countersued the financial institution in 2023, however each the businesses dropped their claims towards one another in November final 12 months.
Dimon additionally supported the Musk-led initiative to chop what the Trump administration views as authorities excesses.
Dubbed the Division of Authorities Effectivity, or “DOGE,” the group is predicted to hold out dramatic cuts to the federal government and has targets of eliminating total federal companies and reducing authorities jobs. The group has attracted lawsuits difficult its operations.
No massive M&A
Dimon mentioned JPMorgan was not planning on doing a giant acquisition within the close to future.
“Some of those (previous deals) were done to help the United States at the time. They weren’t necessarily done for JPMorgan,” he mentioned.
The lender purchased First Republic Financial institution out of receivership after it failed in 2023.
He additionally famous tariffs carried out for nationwide safety causes outweigh inflation considerations.
“If it’s a little inflationary, but it’s good for national security, so be it,” Dimon mentioned.
President Trump has mentioned he may impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Feb. 1.
