What Role Did JPMorgan Chase’s Board of Directors Play in Convincing Dimon to Raise The Banks’ Bid for Bear?

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- With the glare of the business-news media spotlight now focused on JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) CEO/Chairman Jamie Dimon in the aftermath of his renegotiation of the Bank’s deal with The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC), we can also note the fact that JPMorgan’s Board of Directors had to sign off on the new deal and that fact has been eclipsed.

The Wall Street Journal, for example, made Mr Dimon the sole focus of its analysis concerning how the new offer materialized, when it reported the following:

“Mr. Dimon, regarded as one of Wall Street's shrewdest deal makers, stepped in to buy Bear Stearns at a bargain price of $2 a share after the firm plunged into a cash crunch earlier this month and was faced with a possible bankruptcy filing,” The Journal article said.

However, JPMorgan’s other Directors must have played an important behind-the-scenes role in influencing Mr Dimon’s decisions as well as in the reopened negations between the two financial institutions.

NewsVisual decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to illustrate the business connections of JP Morgan’s Board of Directors as a method for assessing their knowledge of corporate mergers and other governance issues.

The Knowledge Map shows that six of the bank’s Directors currently serve on other corporate boards.

Most noteworthy is Director William H Gray III, who is also a Director for Dell Computer Corp, Pfizer Inc, Prudential Financial Inc, and Visteon Corp.

Likewise, the following three Morgan Directors are noteworthy for serving on more than one other corporate board: Director James S Crown is also a Director for General Dynamics Corp and Sara Lee Corp; Director Ellen V Futter is also a Director for American International Group Inc and Consolidated Edison Inc; and Director Robert I Lipp is also a Director for Accenture Ltd and The Travelers Companies Inc.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Click here for a fuller and an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map.