JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that “the American Dream is alive, but it’s slipping out of reach for too many people—and for future generations,” in March. Six months later, the bank is now pointing to a specific problem that could make that warning more tangible. The biggest bank of America now claims that millions of ageing small-business owners are approaching retirement without a clear plan for what happens to the companies they built.JPMorganChase’s new report, “Powering 10 Million Small Businesses,” estimates that roughly 12 million businesses representing nearly $10 trillion in assets could change hands over the next decade. Yet of the 1,000 business owners JP Morgan surveyed, only 8% said they had reached an advanced stage of succession planning.
Millions of small businesses face a succession problem
The gap between the intention to do succession planning and readiness for it is rather significant. As JP Morgan points out, only 8% of respondents reached an advanced stage of planning, while 70% were at the beginning stage of preparation.The primary issue here is the prediction that 12 million firms will be sold in the next ten years. The key issue is that in sectors critical to a country’s national security, over 50 per cent of these businesses are owned by individuals over 55.In addition, research can provide context for this problem. According to research, proper succession planning could prevent 6% to 13% of small business failures in the next ten years.A 2025 Gallup survey found that 27% of employer firms owned by individuals aged 55 or older had no long-term plan and planned to close rather than sell or transfer the business.
The “Silver Tsunami” is reaching Main Street
The succession issue is part of what researchers have called the “Great Wealth Transfer” or “Silver Tsunami”, as baby boomers who own much of America’s wealth approach retirement.Estimates vary, but Project Equity puts the number of baby boomer-owned businesses expected to transition at 2.3 million, representing one in six US jobs. Other estimates range as high as 3 million businesses or millions more individual ownership transitions by 2035.The problem is not limited to small businesses. An analysis of S&P 500 companies found that at more than one-third of firms examined, the CEO and CFO were simultaneously within the typical retirement window without a clearly disclosed succession plan.
One example of a planned transition
JPMorganChase points to Nicole Williams and The Cowrie Collective in San Francisco as an example of how a transition should be planned.Williams, who heard tales of the Fillmore district of San Francisco, which was called “Harlem of the West” when she was growing up, gathered five other black women entrepreneurs and formed a collective shop in the Palace Hotel.“We didn’t open Cowrie Collective to sell more products,” Williams says. “We opened it to make downtown feel connected again—six businesses, one vision, and a place where every purchase carries meaning.”The group was supported by SF New Deal’s Vacant to Vibrant program, funded by JPMorgan and the City of San Francisco, as well as Chase’s Coaching for Impact program.
Why JPMorgan is focusing on succession
JPMorganChase is using the succession problem to connect Dimon’s warning about the American Dream to a measurable economic issue. The bank’s report supports the American Ownership and Resilience Act, the Small Business Succession Planning Act and the Retire Through Ownership Act, while calling on the SBA to create a national succession toolkit.The effort also follows JPMorgan’s March launch of its American Dream Initiative, which includes a commitment of $80 billion in small-business lending over 10 years, along with transition advisory services and $11.5 million in philanthropic funding for ownership transitions announced in 2025.The concern is that without succession planning, businesses that could otherwise change hands may instead close when their owners retire.
