Matt Zames Named President of Cerberus Capital Management -- WSJ

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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 19, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.