Jamie Dimon made $770 million last year, and 2026 could be even better for banks

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon reportedly made about $770 million last year, as U.S. bank bosses look increasingly set to benefit from a surge in mergers and acquisitions and deregulation brought about by the Trump administration.

Dimon’s huge haul included his salary, bonuses, dividends, and stock awards, reported the New York Times citing corporate filings and based on calculations based on a 34% surge in JPMorgan’s share price in 2025. That means some of the gains come from stock that has not been sold.

Nonetheless, the payday reflects a more lucrative environment for America’s biggest banks, which have long complained about complex regulations dating back to the 2008 financial crisis. Since taking office again, President Donald Trump has started rolling that regime back, making the U.S. more lenient on cryptocurrencies, and attacking regulatory agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The administration also signed an executive order last February that paused all new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was focused on stopping U.S. firms from bribing foreign officials. The Department of Justice said the order was to make sure the agency was not “stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States.”

And banks are poised to benefit from more dealmaking this year. Big-ticket mergers and acquisitions were thrust back on the table in 2025 by successive falls in interest rates and a more lenient antitrust environment. Global transaction values rose to about $4.5 trillion in 2025 according to data compiled by Bloomberg, the second highest on record, with the $100 billion bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery between Netflix and Paramount standing out as perhaps the most striking example.

As well as JPMorgan, bosses at Citi and Goldman Sachs also saw big windfalls reported the Times, with shares in the companies rising 65% and 53% respectively. A JPMorgan spokesperson told the outlet that some of Dimon’s earnings were linked to shares purchased nearly 20 years ago.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 69-year-old Dimon recently said he has no plans to retire anytime soon, telling Fox News that it is still “several years away.”

“I love what I do. I love my country, and I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t fighting for something every day,” he said, while keeping the door open to staying on as executive chairman of the board after stepping aside from the top job. JPMorgan’s stock has soared 500% since Dimon became CEO in 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“It’s up to God and the board,” he added.