Capitalism

Elizabeth Warren Challenges Jamie Dimon Over Accountable Capitalism

Sen. Elizabeth Warren took JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and the Business Roundtable to task in a new interview with CNBC’s John Harwood published on Monday over the business association’s August commitment to “redefine” the purpose of a corporation to extend beyond the maximization of shareholder profits.

“If Jamie Dimon thinks it’s a good idea for giant corporations like JPMorgan Chase to have multiple obligations, he and I agree. Then let’s make that the law,” Warren said. Dimon is the chairman of Business Roundtable’s board of directors.

Warren, one of the top contenders in the Democratic presidential primary, suggested that the business association’s move to do away with the notion of “shareholder primacy” was inspired by her proposal to rein in the power of big business.

The Massachusetts Democrat introduced a bill to require the nation’s largest companies to consider stakeholders like their customers and employees a year before the Business Roundtable released its statement, signed by 181 CEOs, calling on businesses to do the same.

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