Did JPMorgan Chase CEO Reach Out To Zohran Mamdani After NYC Mayoral Win?

Known to be a vocal critic of Zohran Mamdani, Jamie Dimon, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase, reached out to New York’s mayor-elect on the morning of Nov. 5, The New York Times reported. Dimon told CNN in an interview on Wednesday that he was open to continuing communication with Mamdani.

“If I find it productive, I’ll continue to do it,” Dimon said, adding that he considers himself “patriotic” and is willing to help “any mayor, any governor.”

At a press conference on Nov. 5, Mamdani said he looked forward to meeting Dimon and stressed that complete agreement was not required for a dialogue. According to CNN, Mamdani said universal agreement across “every single issue” should not be a prerequisite to having a conversation.

After Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June, Dimon publicly attacked his policy agenda, which includes free buses and a rent freeze on rent-stabilised apartments. In July, he described Mamdani’s proposals as “the same ideological mush that means nothing in the real world,” The New York Times reported.

But as Mamdani gained momentum in polls, Dimon began to see value in opening a channel of communication. The two later spoke on the phone as part of Mamdani’s outreach to the city’s elite.

After winning the NYC mayoral election, Mamdani said that though he was willing to engage with business leaders, the conversations had not changed his political positions.

“My supporters and our movement are hungry for a politics of consistency, a politics that actually focuses on the needs of working people,” Mamdani told The New York Times on Nov. 5, reiterating his push to raise taxes on the wealthy. “I think that our tax system is an example of the many ways in which working people have been betrayed,” he added.

On CNN, Dimon said he had concerns about Mamdani’s lack of experience but expressed hope the mayor-elect would mature in the role. “I see a lot of people in big jobs, including political jobs, they grow into it. They’re learning,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of people; they kind of swell into the job. They get worse. It all becomes about them.” Dimon added that he hoped Mamdani was “the good one.”

When CNN asked Dimon whether Mamdani, a democratic socialist, and he could disagree over something as fundamental as capitalism, the banking giant’s CEO said many of the issues Mamdani wanted to address were not ideological flaws.

“Those things, in my opinion, are not Democrat, they’re not Republican, they’re not flaws of capitalism, not flaws of socialism,” Dimon said. “They are bad policy, badly executed. So, anyone who wants to fix those things, I’m all in,” he added.