Just two years after Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak were brought onto their most recent roles at JPMorgan, they have been tasked to lead the bank’s consumer operations, which accounts for nearly 40% of the company’s profits. Gordon Smith, co-president and current leader of consumer and community banking, is stepping down at the end of this year. The two women have been eyed as potential successors to Jamie Dimon, and the move to make them co-leads of such a significant arm of business has turned heads.
Let’s learn more about these leaders. In this article, Marianne Lake.
(For Jennifer Piepszak’s profile, click here.)
MUMBAI, INDIA – MARCH 10: Marianne Lake was recently promoted to co-CEO of Consumer Operations at JP … [+]
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Lake has been with JPMorgan Chase for 20 years, as the Chief Financial Officer from 2013-2019, moving to CEO of Consumer Lending two years ago. Jennifer Piepszak succeeded Lake in the CFO role. The move to CEO of Consumer raised anticipation that Lake would be tapped as eventual successor to Jamie Dimon. The high profile position oversees card services, home lending and auto financing divisions.
During her years as CFO, Lake grew a reputation as a public voice of the company, her communication style being referred to as “unflappable.” She has been referred to as ‘the first lady of Wall Street‘ for her tough demeanor and her British, self-deprecating humor.
She has long been seen as a contender for the CEO successor role, with the Financial Times mentioning in a profile that “successive promotions had a habit of landing her right in the middle of the company’s toughest situations. But the experiences forged through crises put her in a strong position in the contest to succeed Jamie Dimon.” Dimon has suggested he would step down “in five years” for multiple years.
According to her bio on the company website, Lake is the co-founder of an internal “Women on the Move” initiative and is on the Board of Directors of the New York City Ballet. Lake was raised by working class British parents and has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Reading University in the United Kingdom.
Lake is 52 years old, has three children and appeared at #43 on the Forbes Power Women List of 2020 and on Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in Finance.
For Jennifer Piepszak’s profile, click here.
