JPMorgan’s longest-serving director Lee Raymond quits

Bloomberg

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Lee Raymond, the company’s longest-serving director, is
resigning from the board.
Raymond, the former Exxon Mobil Corp. boss who’s been on the board of the biggest US bank for more than three decades, notified JPMorgan of his intention to resign effective December 31, according to a regulatory filing. The decision was “not the result of any disagreement with the company,” according to the filing.
JPMorgan said in May it was planning to name a replacement for Raymond, 82, after nonprofit groups and some large investors pushed to remove him due to his track record on climate change. In September, the bank named Stephen Burke as lead independent director. Still, Raymond’s departure comes earlier than expected. He was elected this year to serve another one-year term, running to May 2021.
A spokesman for the bank said Raymond’s retirement has nothing to do with outside pressure.
Raymond was “an instrumental force in helping make JPMorgan Chase the outstanding company it is today,” Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon wrote in a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg.
Raymond helped guide the lender through mega-mergers after mastering them at Exxon, assisted JPMorgan in getting through the global financial crisis and has been one of Dimon’s biggest supporters and advisers.