JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Friday that he delivered his message directly to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a recent face-to-face meeting, describing the conversation as respectful and productive while emphasizing the importance of practical policymaking over higher taxes and additional government spending.
Speaking with Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo, Dimon reflected on the meeting he held with Mamdani last week, saying the discussion was both candid and constructive.
“He was very polite. It was very earnest. We had a very good conversation, but I said everything I wanted to say,” Dimon said.
The longtime banking executive explained that topics such as affordable housing and child care were among the issues discussed during the sit-down. While acknowledging that many people support efforts to address those concerns, Dimon stressed that good intentions alone are not enough.
“I got to talk about affordable housing and child care,” he said. “Most people want it. If you do it badly, it would be a disaster.”
Rather than pursuing policies based solely on political appeal, Dimon argued that leaders should rely on proven approaches and expert guidance. He noted that studies already exist showing how such programs can be implemented effectively and urged policymakers to seek out experienced professionals who understand how to execute them successfully.
According to Dimon, effective governance often has less to do with spending levels and more to do with the quality of decision-making.
“Good policy is free,” he said.
The JPMorgan chief, who was born in Queens and has led the nation’s largest bank for roughly two decades, suggested that many political leaders focus too heavily on raising taxes or increasing expenditures instead of improving the policies already in place.
“I feel like telling the politicians, ‘Don’t try to raise more taxes or spend more money, sit down and fix policy,’” Dimon said.
During the interview, Dimon also pointed to the scale of the challenge facing Mamdani in his current position. The executive noted that the mayor, at 34 years old, now oversees a vast municipal workforce and carries responsibilities unlike any he has held before.
“He’s running the city with 300,000 employees now,” Dimon said.
Drawing on his observations of city leadership over the years, Dimon warned that some mayors have struggled not because of a lack of ambition but because they were unable to effectively manage large organizations or because ideological commitments overshadowed practical concerns.
“I’ve seen mayors who just, they fail abysmally because they can’t administer themselves out of a paper bag, or ideology blinds them to practical, realistic, real-world policy,” he said.
Still, Dimon stopped short of passing judgment on Mamdani’s tenure, saying only that time will reveal how the mayor performs in office.
“We’ll see,” he said, adding that he would be willing to assist if there are opportunities to support policies he believes would benefit the city.
The meeting came after Mamdani separately met with Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon in an apparent effort to address concerns surrounding several of his policy proposals, including a proposed tax on second homes valued at $1 million or more.
One recent controversy centered on a video Mamdani filmed outside a penthouse owned by hedge fund executive Ken Griffin while promoting the proposal. Griffin criticized the move as “creepy” and subsequently announced an expansion of his Citadel fund’s operations in Florida rather than New York. He also suggested the firm could reconsider a planned $6 billion Park Avenue development.
Asked about the video, Dimon offered a restrained response.
“My guess is he probably regrets that,” Dimon said. “But you got to ask him that.
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