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Rishi Sunak has nominated JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon and former Google chairman Eric Schmidt for a British honor, people familiar with the matter said, as the British prime minister enters what may be his final weeks in office.
Officials have been instructed to start the process in mid-May, one of the people said, with the proposal being routed through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The UK Foreign Office provides honors for non-UK nationals, including honorary knighthoods. The process, officials say, requires less scrutiny than the UK citizens’ route, which is managed by the Cabinet Office and its vetting panel. All awards must bear the stamp of King Charles III.
It was unclear what, if any, levels of honor Dimon and Schmidt would eventually receive. Both men are US citizens. One of Sunak’s ministers said Dimon would be a “strong candidate” for a knighthood.
The honor is given to individuals who have made “significant contributions in any field of endeavor”.
Dimon is Wall Street’s longest-serving executive, famous for weathering the 2008 financial crisis and leading JPMorgan to become America’s largest bank by assets.
Schmidt headed the search giant for a decade as it grew from a start-up to one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent firms; since then he has devoted himself to artificial intelligence, US national security and philanthropy.
A person close to the prime minister said Dimon would not receive any British honors and there was no trial.
Downing Street, FCDO and JPMorgan declined to comment. A spokesman for Schmidt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The proposed honors for Dimon and Schmidt followed the announcement in March that Stephen Schwarzman, the founder of asset manager Blackstone, would receive an honorary British knighthood.
One British diplomat said it “wouldn’t be that surprising” if the honors given by Britain’s Tory administration had “a particular flavor of the financial sector”.
They noted that Sunak lived in the US and worked in finance before becoming an MP in 2015. Sunak worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and then at hedge fund TCI.
Sunak has also shown an interest in the technology sector, pushing for the UK to become a leader in artificial intelligence and last year hosting the first major global summit on AI security at Bletchley Park.
The prime minister has been criticized by his rivals for having a US green card to stay until 2021, long after he first joined the government as a minister in 2018. He owns an apartment in Santa Monica, California with his wife Akshata Murty.
UK opinion polls show Sunak’s Tories trailing opposition Labor by 21 points, according to a Financial Times poll, suggesting Sir Keir Starmer is likely to enter Downing Street after the July 4 general election.
Sunak has insisted he will remain in the UK even if he and his Conservative Party are voted out of office.
Past recipients of British knighthoods include Disney chief Bob Iger in 2022 and media mogul Michael Bloomberg in 2014. Foreigners who have received knighthoods or damehoods, the female equivalent, are not referred to as “Sir” or “Dame”.
Dimon attended the Sunaku Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace in London in November for an “A-list” of CEOs and investors. He told Sky News during a trip to the UK last month that he had “tremendous respect” for Sunak.
But Dimon also confirmed he had also met Starmer, describing both British politicians as “pro-business” and their parties as growth-oriented.
Last year, Schmidt, along with Citadel chief executive Ken Griffin, contributed £16 million to the UK Biobank, a biomedical database.
The King’s Birthday honors list, which is being reviewed by honors committees made up of senior civil servants and independent members, is due to be published later this month.
However, FCDO awards may be granted on an ad hoc basis. Separately, outgoing Prime Ministers usually issue dissolution honors to recognize close allies, which are not scrutinized by honors committees but are submitted to the Cabinet Office for a “probability and decency” check.