Jamie Dimon taps Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell and Ford CEO Jim Farley to advise JPMorgan’s $1.5 trillion national-security initiative
Jamie Dimon’s JPMorganChase just unveiled a list of business leaders and retired government officials that will make up a new advisory team to guide the investment bank’s $1.5 trillion national-security initiative.
The external advisory council, announced on Monday, features prominent tech business leaders Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell as well as Ford CEO Jim Farley, alongside a number of national security and defense experts.
JPMorganChase first announced its national-security push—coined the Security and Resilience Initiative (SRI)—in October by saying it would first invest up to $10 billion in direct equity and venture capital to companies it characterizes as paramount to U.S. national security.
Dimon also said on Monday he poached one of Warren Buffet’s personally selected investors to head the investment fund starting in January.
Both of the announcements are initial steps to realizing the company’s national-security pledge, which will span the next 10 years.
The council will be chaired by Dimon himself, and will “convene periodically” to “help spur growth and innovation in industries critical to the United States’ national security and economic resiliency,” the company said in its press release.
“We are humbled by the extraordinary group of leaders and public servants who have agreed to join our efforts as senior advisors to the SRI,” Dimon said in the Monday announcement. “With their help, we can ensure that our firm takes a holistic approach to addressing key issues facing the United States—supporting companies across all sizes and development stages through advice, financing and equity capital.”
Here is a list of the advisory council members:
Business leaders
- Jeff Bezos, executive chairman and founder of Amazon and founder of Blue Origin
Bezos previously partnered with Dimon and Warren Buffett on the not-for-profit Haven health‑care venture in 2018, which was backed by Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway. Dimon has said the two “hit it off” in 1999, and Bezos even discussed hiring Dimon as Amazon’s president before Dimon chose to stay in banking.
- Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies
Dell worked closely with Dimon and JPMorgan when the bank led the multibillion‑dollar financing for Dell’s $67 billion takeover of tech giant EMC in 2015, the largest tech deal ever at the time.
- Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company
Farley has publicly warned about U.S. dependence on China for chips and rare earths, arguing it is a strategic vulnerability. In a third-quarter earnings call in October, he told investors he had discussed these issues with U.S. officials as a chip shortage caused by China threatened to impact the automaker.
- Alex Gorsky, former CEO of Johnson & Johnson
Gorsky, most recently the company’s former executive chairman, oversaw the company’s expansion and helped steer J&J through the Covid‑19 vaccine rollout as CEO.
- Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics
Novakovic previously worked in the U.S. government in roles at the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense before moving to the private sector in 2001. After working her way up at General Dynamics, she now heads one of the Pentagon’s major defense contractors.
- Todd Combs, Berkshire Hathaway investment manager, CEO of GEICO
Combs is a longtime Berkshire Hathaway investment manager and CEO of Geico who left Geico this week and is leaving his Berkshire role as well to lead JPMorganChase’s SRI Strategic Investment Group and join the advisory council in early 2026. For years, he was one of Warren Buffett’s top stock pickers.
- Paul Ryan, Partner at Solamere Capital, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Ryan is a partner at private-equity firm Solamere Capital and formerly served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019, where he was a key figure on fiscal and economic policy. He previously chaired both the House Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, making him a central Republican figure on fiscal and economic policy and tax legislation.
National security experts
- Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State
Rice is a former U.S. Secretary of State under George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009 and, prior to that, was National Security Adviser. She played a central role in U.S. foreign policy and national‑security decision-making in the 2000s.
- Robert Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
Gates is a former CIA director under former president George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and former U.S. Secretary of Defense, with a long career in national security and intelligence under both Republican and Democratic presidents.
- Chris Cavoli, retired general
Cavoli is a retired U.S. Army general who most recently served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command, overseeing NATO forces and U.S. military operations in Europe.
- Ann Dunwoody, retired Commanding General of U.S. Army Material Command
Dunwoody is a retired four‑star general and former Commanding General of U.S. Army Materiel Command. She’s the first woman in U.S. history to achieve the rank of four‑star general.
- Paul Nakasone, retired general and former NSA Director
Nakasone is a retired four‑star Army general who led the U.S. Cyber Command and served as director of the National Security Agency and chief of the Central Security Service from 2018 to 2024.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com