William B. Harrison Jr.

William B. Harrison Jr., (born August 12, 1943), in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, is the former CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase. He attended high school at Virginia Episcopal School, where he was a basketball star. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. Having risen through the ranks of Chemical Bank before succeeding Walter V. Shipley during the Chemical Bank merger with the Chase Manhattan Corporation in 1995, which kept the Chase name. As Chairman and CEO of Chase, he and Douglas A. Warner III, then CEO of J.P. Morgan & Co., were the principal architects of the US$30.9 billion acquisition by Chase of J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000, to form JPMorgan Chase & Co.[1] Harrison has been a director of the Firm or a predecessor institution since 1991. Harrison is also a director of Merck & Co., Inc.

Jamie Dimon, former Bank One CEO, replaced Harrison as chairman on January 1, 2007,[2] following Harrison's decision to step down from his chairman position of JPMorgan on December 31, 2006.

  1. ^ McGeehan, Patrick; Hansell, Saul. (Sept. 14, 2000). The New York Times. "Banking's Big Deal: The Deal; Chase Hopes Deal for Morgan will bring it Prestige" Late Edition – Final, Section C, Page 1, Column 2.
  2. ^ JP Morgan Press Release, December 12, 2006