Bank One Names Dimon CEO

Bank One Corp., whose shares have plunged 39% in the last year, hired former Citigroup President James Dimon on Monday as chairman and chief executive in a bid to restore investor confidence and revive earnings growth.

Dimon, 44, who helped Citigroup Chairman Sanford Weill create the biggest U.S. financial services firm, was fired in 1998 after the unit he oversaw lost $1.3 billion in bond trading in a single quarter.

His first task at Chicago-based Bank One will be to turn around the credit card unit, the world’s second-largest. Customer defections in the division squeezed earnings, forcing the bank to warn four times in the last seven months that it would fall short of analysts’ profit forecasts.

Dimon succeeds John B. McCoy, who retired in December as the company’s outlook worsened.

Bank One shares surged $3.63 to $32 on the New York Stock Exchange. Dimon said he will personally buy 2 million Bank One shares to show his commitment to turning the company around.