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JPMorgan Chase

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JPMorgan Chase

New York

Assets: $2.036 trillion (combined data as of Sept. 25)
Deposits: $904 billion
Stock performance YTD: -6.1%
Employees: 238,792

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) acquired Washington Mutual's banking assets for $1.9 billion on Sept. 25 after the troubled thrift was seized by the FDIC, to give it a combined network of 5,400 branches in 23 states. JPMorgan Chase, which has already taken nearly $19 billion in mortgage losses, is expected to write down WaMu's loan portfolio by $31 billion. The deal, after the bank's fire sale buy of failing Bear Stearns, was the second time in a year the federal government approached JPMorgan to help avert a banking crisis. That leaves JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, as Bloomberg News put it, "to assume the role of buyer of last resort."