JPMorgan Chase letter to shareholders, 2008

About this letter

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, wrote this letter to shareholders in March 2009 for the bank's 2008 annual report, a year he describes as largely unprecedented and virtually inconceivable. JPMorgan Chase earned nearly $6 billion, down 64% on the year before, hit by rising consumer and mortgage credit costs and more than $10 billion of investment bank write-downs, yet Dimon suggests it may have been one of the firm's finest years.

The letter reviews results line of business by line of business, then the year's critical events: the purchase of Bear Stearns, the acquisition of Washington Mutual's banking operations for about $1.9 billion after the largest bank failure in history, and accepting government TARP capital it had not asked for. Later sections look at the future of the financial system, compensation and what comes next for the firm, as it prepared for what Dimon expected to be a very tough 2009.

What to notice

1. 1

   Dimon recounts buying Bear Stearns at the US government's request over a single weekend and paying $1.5 billion for it.