JPMorgan Chase names Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak co-heads of consumer, community banking business

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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The UN falls behind its peer organizations on promoting women economists, Pinterest sets new diversity targets, and JPMorgan takes a step toward shattering its glass ceiling. Have a great Wednesday.

– Chasing the job. Just two years ago, Wall Street had never had a female CEO at a major American bank, as Claire memorably examined in her 2019 feature. That changed this year, when Jane Fraser was named CEO of Citi.

Yesterday, the finance industry moved closer to cracking that glass ceiling once again. JPMorgan Chase named Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak coheads of its consumer and community banking business. The appointments keep both executives on track as leading candidates to succeed Jamie Dimon as JPMorgan’s chief executive.

Piepszak is the bank’s CFO, while Lake held that role herself before becoming consumer-lending chief. Back in 2019, both were seen as leading candidates to succeed Dimon. But at the time, the CEO said, “[We] don’t comment on succession plans. That’s a board-level issue. We have exceptional women. And my successor may very well be a woman, and it may not. And it really depends on the circumstance.”

The circumstance seems to be, insiders say, that either woman is very likely to be the next CEO of JPMorgan, assuming normal succession-planning takes place. (If Dimon were to have to suddenly step down, COO Daniel Pinto would be the emergency replacement.)

But there are a few questions. The shared job Lake and Piepszak are jointly stepping into was previously handled by a single executive, Gordon Smith. People inside JPMorgan, however, are quick to note that the two women “are friends” and don’t view the shared responsibility as a “succession race.”

The unit Lake and Piepszak will be leading accounts for 40% of JPMorgan’s total profit, per WSJ. And taking on such major P&L, or profit and loss, responsibility is a critical step for any CEO candidate. Will success in this role be enough to get either woman into the top job? Dimon is likely to stay in the position for about five more years, but—despite what the executives may say—the race is on.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

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