JPMorgan Chase CEO decries U.S. defense lag as bank pours $1.5 trillion into security tech

JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon traveled by bus through California’s defense-technology corridor, visiting firms such as Impulse Space and meeting with missile, drone and aerospace developers. He told reporters he finds the notion that the United States is lagging in defense tech frustrating, yet remains encouraged by the innovations he observes. The tour aligns with the bank’s $1.5 trillion Security and Resiliency Initiative, launched in October, which has already allocated billions to critical sectors and now extends to Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Dimon said the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked his deeper focus on weapons and global power dynamics after conversations with retired generals. JPMorgan’s annual bus tour, traditionally a domestic outreach, this year concentrated on California, stopping in cities from Healdsburg to Orange County. The firm also backs the NatSec100 list of private defense firms and draws on advisors including Robert Gates, Chris Cavoli, Paul Nakasone and Paul Ryan. Co-president Doug Petno emphasized that the bank is committing both capital and personnel to make the initiative substantive rather than symbolic.