Rishi Sunak has reportedly put forward long-serving JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon and ex-Google chair Eric Schmidt for UK honours ahead of the general election on 4 July.
Officials were instructed to start the process in the middle of May, with the proposal routed through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Financial Times reported.
The honours process for foreign citizens involves less scrutiny than for UK citizens and is handled by the foreign office rather than the Cabinet Office and its vetting committees, it is understood. Either way, all honours must be approved by King Charles III.
It is unclear what kind of honour the two US citizens could receive, if any. One of Sunak’s ministers said Dimon would “be a strong candidate” for a knighthood, while another source close to the PM said he would not receive any honour.
Dimon is arguably the single most significant figure in global finance as the longest-serving chief executive on Wall Street. He has led JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank by market capitalisation, since 2006 and steered it through the financial crisis to become by far the country’s most profitable bank.
He stands to earn a “special award” of some $50m (£39.1m) if he stays with JPMorgan until 2026, recently hinting that his retirement may come earlier than expected.
Dimon attended Sunak’s star-studded global investment summit in London last November and told Sky News in May that he had “enormous respect” for the prime minister. He also met Labour leader Keir Starmer and called both politicians “pro-business”.
Eric Schmidt has an estimated net worth of $33.2bn (£25.9bn)
Schmidt was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, overseeing its growth from start-up to global tech titan. He was its executive chair from 2011 to 2015, then serving as chair of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, from 2015 to 2017.
Also with fingers in artificial intelligence and US national security, Schmidt has an estimated net worth of $33.2bn (£25.9bn), according to Bloomberg, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world. A philanthropist, he made a joint £16m donation to the UK Biobank database last year.
Downing Street, the FCDO and JPMorgan declined to comment. A spokesperson for Schmidt did not respond to a request for comment.
The move to honour US business grandees would not be unprecedented for Sunak, who has lived in California and once worked for Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs.
It was announced in March that Stephen Schwarzman, the billionaire founder of asset manager Blackstone, would receive an honorary British knighthood.