Shut up and pay the man.

My new post at The Daily Beast takes on the notion that Jamie Dimon is “overpaid” as the CEO of Wall Street’s largest bank, JP Morgan. People making that claim don’t quite understand how capitalism works. Dimon serves the shareholders and the shareholders couldn’t possibly be more taken care of than they are right now.

Given the shit this company has gotten away with and the close calls it has survived over the years, I would argue that Jamie Dimon’s restricted share award of $18 million for 2013 is actually not even close to what his real value is to the company. He played the crisis like a game and beat everyone, then crushed it in the playoffs that are the post-crisis period. Whom else would you like to lead this team into the championship game?

Aaron Rodgers is an amazing quarterback and a fan favorite in Green Bay, where they pay him $43 million a year , more than twice Jamie Dimon’s 2013 compensation (total contract amount). The Green Bay Packers franchise is valued at $1.1 billion, does about $282 million in revenues per year and, in the most recent season, earned $53 million in operating profits. Rodgers’s compensation is almost equal to the entire organization’s earnings. By contrast, Dimon’s $18 million pay is a tiny fraction of the bank’s massive $18 billion profit for 2013. By the way, the Packers were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round this year while JPMorgan wins the Money Super Bowl every quarter, pretty much no matter what kind of hijinx they get up to.

Dimon’s winning every day and cannot be defeated by any government agency, regulator or political body. He’s untouchable and the bank has nary a scratch on it. They could probably begin orchestrating assassinations of world leaders and just write a check if anyone even dares to raise an eyebrow. They own you and run the country in a way that other banks merely dream of – and it’s mostly to the CEO’s credit.

Shut up and pay the man.

Read it here: