One could argue that JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) CEO Jamie Dimon was playing to
the cheap seats with his line Wednesday about how bad the rich investment
bankers of New York have it these days. Dimon was, after all, speaking at an
investor conference organized by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ). But if the JPMorgan
exec was trying to deflect criticism of the so-called "wealthiest 1%," he
failed miserably. Dimon's one-liner was a rather uninteresting boilerplate, a
typical response from a well-heeled CEO. "Acting like everyone whos been
successful is bad and that everyone who is rich is bad, I just dont get it,"
Dimon said. "Most of us wage earners are paying 39.6% in taxes, and add in
another 12% in New York state and city taxes, and were paying 50% of our income
in taxes." Here's where it goes off the rails, though: Dimon is a liar if
he's trying to make it look like half of what he earns is sucked back in
taxes. Because like most fat-cat CEOs, he gets the lion's share of his income
via stock options not a nominal salary like John Q. Public. The JPMorgan Chase
CEO saw his total compensation jump nearly 1,500% in 2010. Specifically, Jamie
Dimon earned $20.8 million in 2010 from $1.3 million a year earlier, according
to the SEC. The breakdown includes a $1 million salary, a $5 million bonus,
nearly $8 million in stock awards and $6.2 million in option awards. But it gets
worse. When you take into account his salary and bonuses, then add in the stock
options exercised in 2010 based on previous awards that is, stock given to him
at depressed valuations across 2008 and 2009 Dimon pulled in around $42
million. Capital gains taxes are not the same as the regular taxes Jamie Dimon
is talking about in his little rant to other fat cats, investment bankers and
rich folk at the Goldman Sachs conference. Some of those shares and stock
options qualified for a rock-bottom rate of just 15% taxation. This is not to
say Dimon doesn't earn his keep. He is one of the better bank CEOs out there
check out how he stacks up against the rest of the Dow leadership . JPMorgan
Chase stock has held firm in the wake of the financial crisis even as other
banks like Citigroup (NYSE: C ) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) have continued
to suffer. JPM stock is off about 25% in five years since the pre-Lehman days,
while BAC and C are down about 90%. This fall, JPMorgan Chase also recently
passed BofA to be the No. 1 bank in the U.S. by total assets. Warren Buffett
laid bare the lie that the rich are overly burdened by taxes by revealing that,
on the whole, he pays a smaller percentage of taxes than his secretary thanks to
all the loopholes and benefits given to investment income over wages. While it
makes sense for Jamie Dimon to reach out for sympathy from fellow rich New
Yorkers, it is less likely he will get sympathy from the rest of us. Dimon
deserves the fruits of his labors. But come on, Jamie don't make yourself out
to be a martyr. Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com. Write him at
editor@investorplace.com , follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP and become a
fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook . As of this writing, he did not own a position
in any of the aforementioned stocks.
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