Here's Why Jamie Dimon Is Keeping His Powerful Dual Roles At World's Largest Bank JPMorgan Chase: $125 Billion In Profits Since 2003

[UPDATE: 12:38 p.m. EST] The votes are in and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon won the support of 67.8 percent of the voting shareholders, more than the approximately 60 percent he won last year in the wake of the London Whale $6-billion trading loss.

---

Much to the surprise of no one who has seen how well JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has performed in recent years, Chairman and CEO James Dimon will continue to be chairman and CEO of the world’s largest bank by assets, according to The New York Times, which was privy to preliminary tallies of a non-binding shareholder vote.

From the New York Times:

JPMorgan and board members had run an unusually proactive campaign to avert the split. To help bolster its credibility, JPMorgan’s board, led by Lee R. Raymond, a former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, slashed Mr. Dimon’s pay by more than 50 percent in January, to $11.5 million.

AFSCME, a union, the New York City Comptroller's Office and other fund managers have been lobbying to split the chairman and CEO roles, which is considered good corporate governance.

Setting aside the infamous London Whale trading blunder of 2012, which cost the bank $6 billion through risky bets on European debt, here’s how the bank has fared from 2003 to 2012 in terms of profit and earnings per share:

2003: $6.7 billion/$3.24
2004: $4.5 billion/$1.55
2005: $8.5 billion/$2.35
2006: $14.4 billion/$4
2007: $15.4 billion/$4.33
2008: $5.6 billion/$1.35
2009: $11.7 billion/$2.26
2010: $17.4 billion/$3.96
2011: $19 billion/$4.48
2012: $21.3 billion/$5.20

Grand total: $124.5 billion, or $32.72 per share.

In the letter to shareholders last month, Dimon wrote the following:

There are a few things, however, that occurred this past year that we are not proud of. The ‘London Whale’ episode not only cost us money — it was extremely embarrassing, opened us up to severe criticism, damaged our reputation and resulted in litigation and investigations that are still ongoing. . . . Additionally, we received regulatory orders requiring improved performance in multiple areas, including mortgage foreclosures, anti-money laundering procedures and others. Unfortunately, we expect we will have more of these in the coming months. We need to and will do all the work necessary to complete the needed improvements identified by our regulators.

Apparently that contrition – as well as the massive amounts of cash delivered to shareholders under Dimon’s leadership -- has been enough to allay the concerns of the bank’s rank and file.