Matt Zames Named President of Cerberus Capital Management -- WSJ
April 19 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Miriam Gottfried
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (April 19, 2018).
Matt Zames, the former chief operating officer of JPMorgan Chase
& Co. who was once seen as a possible successor to Chief
Executive James Dimon, has been appointed president of
private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.
The appointment of Mr. Zames, 47, is part of a series of moves
at the top of Cerberus that include the naming of firm veteran
Frank Bruno as co-chief executive alongside co-founder Stephen
Feinberg, people at the firm said Wednesday.
It marks the latest chapter in a meteoric career on Wall Street.
Mr. Zames was elevated to the role of COO at JPMorgan in the wake
of the $6 billion "London Whale" trading fiasco, which he helped
steer the bank through. He also played a key role in JPMorgan's
emergency takeover of Bear Stearns Cos. in 2008.
Mr. Zames left JPMorgan last June after it became clear he was
unlikely to succeed Mr. Dimon in the near future, or at all, people
familiar with the matter said at the time. In an interview then, he
said he wanted "to get back to running a business."
At Cerberus, he will have broad responsibilities leading a
number of initiatives including the firm's investments in the
financial-services sector. Cerberus, based in New York, has more
than $30 billion in assets and specializes in distressed
investing.
"It's become clear to me that this is a platform that can grow
meaningfully," Mr. Zames said in an interview Wednesday. His talks
with Cerberus began just three or four weeks ago.
Mr. Zames started working for hedge fund Long-Term Capital
Management not long after graduating from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. After the hedge fund collapsed in 1998, he
went to work in the proprietary-trading unit at Morgan Stanley. He
ran several units at what is now Credit Suisse Group AG before
joining JPMorgan in 2004. As operating chief there, he oversaw
cybersecurity, technology, real estate and other functions.
Mr. Feinberg, a billionaire backer of President Donald Trump,
has been a candidate for a position in the White House. The latest
moves aren't related to succession planning and Mr. Feinberg now
has no plans to leave, according to a person familiar with the
firm.
Mr. Bruno, a 20-year Cerberus veteran, assumed the role of
president earlier this year. Cerberus also promoted Lee Millstein,
an 11-year veteran, to the role of president of its international
business.
--Emily Glazer contributed to this article
Write to Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 19, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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