Jamie Dimon has long had a reputation for being one of the best numbers men around.

If he says that JP Morgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns represents good long-term value, Wall Street will listen.

The 52-year-old, born in New York to second-generation Greek immigrants, has led JP Morgan for two years, steering the bank away from the deepest depths of the credit crisis.

His career is the stuff of Wall Street legend. He began with a degree in biology and economics at Tufts, before embarking upon an MBA at Harvard.

There he met Sandy Weill, the titan of banking behind the formation of Citigroup.

The pair worked together for 16 years, before parting company in acrimonious circumstances.

The rumours remain that Weill sacked Dimon for failing to promote his daughter. Neither has ever explained the details of the disagreement, save to confirm that Dimon was sacked.

After leaving Citigroup, Dimon became chief executive of Bank One, becoming president of JP Morgan Chase after it bought the bank four years ago.

In recent times he hit the headlines for snaring Tony Blair as a bank employee, buying into the former Prime Minister’s international cachet.

Despite taking home some $44.4 million (£22.2 million) a year in salary, Dimon is known for eschewing the vulgarity of excessive wealth.

Although he is known as a pugnacious, direct boss, who punches the air to punctuate his shouts, he invests heavily in philanthropy, does not play golf and is known as a family man who likes nothing more than playing tennis with his three daughters.

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