JPMorgan Chase taps Tony Blair for advice

Posted Jan 10th 2008 5:48PM by Beth Gaston Moon
Filed under: Deals, Management, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Politics

Cheerio! What to do if you're a 54-year-old former world leader, in good health, with Western sympathies? Days of leading a major country are behind you, but you're not ready to pack it in anytime soon. Link up with a major American corporation, of course! Tony Blair, who served as Great Britain's prime minister from 1997 through June of last year, has agreed to join with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) in the role of part-time adviser.

The financial terms of the arrangement weren't disclosed, but one Manhattan recruitment consultant estimated in The Financial Times that Blair's fee would likely be more than $1 million a year (though that sum doesn't go quite as far in pounds these days).

According to reports in The New York Times, Blair's functions will include working with JPM chairman/CEO, James Dimon, and other executives to provide strategic and political advice regarding world events. Blair will also serve on the brokerage's international advisory council. Dimon says he called Mr. Blair personally to discuss the partnership, telling The Financial Times that both men hope "to try to make the world a better place and have a bit of fun doing it."

With this new career step into the financial-services world, Blair follows in the footstep of his predecessor, John Major, (incidentally, a spitting image of my grandfather). The former prime minister works for private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, which also employed former U.S. President George H. W. Bush.

In late trading today, JPM shares have gained nearly 4%.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Tags: England, Great Britain, GreatBritain, inthenews, James Dimon, JamesDimon, JPM, politicians, prime minister, PrimeMinister, Tony Blair, TonyBlair, UK, United Kingdom, UnitedKingdom