WASHINGTON - The CEOs of the biggest U.S. corporations have chosen the articulate defender of big banks, JP Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, to be their spokesman in the first year of the Trump administration, it was announced Wednesday.
By accepting the high-profile position as spokesman for big business, Dimon appears to be taking an alternate route to influencing public policy than that of a Trump administration Cabinet appointment, once rumored to be in the works.
"The results of the U.S. election reflected in some part the frustration that so many people have with the lack of economic opportunity and the challenges they face," Dimon said in acknowledging his selection. "By helping to bridge the divide between political parties and working collaboratively to find solutions, Business Roundtable can play a key role in fostering economic mobility and sustained growth."
The Roundtable organization is made up of 192 CEOs whose firms together generate $6 trillion in annual revenues, with 15 million employees and about a quarter of total stock market capitalization.
Dimon succeeds Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman, who retires at the end of the year. On Tuesday, Oberhelman issued the Roundtable's latest quarterly outlook, looking ahead to only 2% growth in 2017 and a softening of capital investment, but continued hiring and increased sales.
