Tragic Death of JPMorgan Board Member Adds to the Bank’s String of Unusual Deaths

On Sunday, James S. Crown died in an unusual single-car accident, reportedly on a motorsport racetrack at a “member-owned country club”

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens.

On Sunday, James S. Crown died in an unusual single-car accident, reportedly on a motorsport racetrack at a “member-owned country club” in Aspen, Colorado. The Pitkin County Coroner’s Office said in a statement that “The official cause of death is pending autopsy, although multiple blunt force trauma is evident.” The Sheriff’s Office indicated that the earliest new information would be made available to the public is next week.

In August of last year, Wall Street On Parade made a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice involving James S. Crown, who was a long-term member of the Board of Directors of JPMorgan Chase and two predecessor banks, Bank One Corporation (previously Banc One) and First Chicago Corporation. Following mergers between the banks, Crown seamlessly went from First Chicago (1991 to 1996) to Bank One (1996–2004) to JPMorgan Chase (2004 to the present) – a stunning tenure of 32 years for a Board Member dubbed an “Independent Director.”

Wall Street On Parade’s referral to the Justice Department concerned financial dealings between Crown and JPMorgan Chase that were not disclosed in public filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission or to shareholders. We reported at the time:

For more than a decade, JPMorgan Chase has been asserting in its proxy statement that its entire Board of Directors, other than Jamie Dimon, its Chairman and CEO, consists of independent directors. In its most recent proxy statement for 2022, JPMorgan Chase asserts that “The Board, having reviewed the relevant relationships between the Firm and each director, determined, in accordance with the NYSE’s listing standards and the Firm’s independence standards, that each non-management director…had only immaterial relationships with JPMorgan Chase and accordingly is independent”…

But JPMorgan Chase has failed to disclose the granular details of a string of financial dealings it has had with companies tied to its Board member James S. Crown, Chairman and CEO of Henry Crown and Company, a private company owned by Crown and his siblings that invest in a sprawling array of businesses…

Crown was the Chair of JPMorgan Chase’s Risk Committee in the years leading up to, and during, the investigation of the London Whale scandal where the bank lost $6.2 billion from deposits in its federally-insured bank by gambling in derivatives in London. Crown remained Chair of the Risk Committee during the two felony counts brought by the Justice Department in 2014 related to the bank’s role in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Crown also headed the Risk Committee during the 2015 felony count brought by the Justice Department related to the bank rigging the foreign exchange market. Crown remained a member (but not the Chair) of the Risk Committee in 2020 when the bank was charged with its fourth and fifth criminal felony counts by the Justice Department. The 2020 charges against the bank were for rigging the precious metals and U.S. Treasury securities markets. The bank admitted to all five felony counts from 2014 through 2020 and received deferred prosecution agreements from the Justice Department. Not only did the Board of JPMorgan Chase not fire Dimon after this unprecedented string of criminal charges, but it awarded him a bonus of $50 million.

During the years that Crown served on the Risk Committee at JPMorgan Chase, the bank was engaged in a major lending operation with his company, Henry Crown and Company. The details of that specific loan were not disclosed in the bank’s proxy statement.

The loan involved the 2017 purchase of Intrawest Resorts Holdings and Mammoth Resorts by a joint venture formed by an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company – the largest deal in ski resort history according to the Denver Post. In 2018 the resulting company was named Alterra Mountain Company. The company’s press release indicated that “The destinations that make up Alterra Mountain Company are spread throughout five states and three Canadian provinces: Steamboat and Winter Park in Colorado; Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, Mammoth Mountain, June Mountain and Big Bear Mountain Resort in California; Stratton in Vermont; Snowshoe in West Virginia; Tremblant in Quebec; Blue Mountain in Ontario; Deer Valley in Utah; and CMH Heli-Skiing and Summer Adventures in British Columbia.”

According to an SEC filing, “The Company [Intrawest] also received draft equity commitment and limited guaranty letters from KSL Capital Partners and Crown, and a draft debt commitment letter from JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (‘JPM’) relating to Parent’s bid.” The ‘Parent’ is Hawk Holding Company, made up of KSL Capital and Henry Crown and Company interests. The SEC filing goes on to note that JPMorgan Chase is one of a syndicate of banks that have “committed to provide a $1.235 billion first lien secured term loan facility, a $196.25 million senior secured revolving credit facility, and a $365 million second lien secured term loan facility, of which $640 million of the loans under the first lien secured term loan facility, $190 million of the loans under the second lien secured term loan facility, and a portion of the commitments under the senior secured revolving credit facility, will be available on the closing date to finance the Transactions….”

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