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her vows, and he would write his own. The ceremony, on May 21, 1983, in Washington, D.C., went off without a hitch.
    Judy was working at Shearson at this point, as an assistant to Joseph Plumeri, the colorful Italian-American director of marketing and sales at the firm. Plumeri remembers Kent as whip-smart but always a little frazzled. She always had runs in her stockings, so he once gave her 25 pairs for Christmas.
    Judy Dimon worked at Shearson for three years as a vice president in marketing before quitting her job two months after the arrival of Julia, the couple’s first child, on May 25, 1985. Almost immediately, though, she dove into a second career in the nonprofit sector, taking a job as executive director of the Spunk Fund, a foundation focused on improving the lives of impoverished young people. She later became involved in the Children’s Aid Society in New York, helping support inner-city schools. Her sacrifice was rewarded by Dimon’s own commitment to family, however constraining his career demands might be.
    The conventional wisdom about Dimon is that he has few interests outside the office, a simplification that irritates him. “I love music and I read a lot and I exercise and play tennis and I ski,” he says. “So I don’t play golf. So what? I think it would be fair to say that when the kids were born, they became my outside hobby. I cut way back on the other stuff and devoted as much time as I could for the family. I still do. Until they were about 15 we never took a vacation without them. The kids and their friends would say I was around a lot, even though I thought I wasn’t. But they probably felt that way because when I was there, I would
be
there.”
    • • •
    In late 1983, Weill had a new mission. The American Express subsidiary Fireman’s Fund, a property and casualty insurer, had run into operational and accounting problems and was dragging its parent down with it. Playing fast and loose in a highly competitive insurance environment,the unit’s management had boosted premium growth without a coincident increase in reserves, and a sudden spike in insurance claims was causing massive losses. Worse, it appeared that executives had tried to cover up their miscalculations. In late 1983, a $230 million increase in the Fireman Fund’s reserves caused American Express to report its first earnings decline in 36 years.
    Robinson asked Weill to head to San Francisco and resolve the problems. Weill was reluctant to do so—it wasn’t hard to see that he was being exiled—but he also realized he really had no choice and acquiesced. He took Dimon along with him, as well as Bill McCormick, a senior American Express executive. The three spent several weeks together before launching an audacious turnaround in early 1984, in which Weill fired 15 percent of the unit’s employees and raised premiums. This stanched the losses, but the division remained a drag on American Express’s balance sheet—the unit needed another $200 million in fresh capital in November—and Robinson soon decided he wanted to unload it. Weill saw an opportunity.
    Knowing that Robinson wouldn’t be too sorry to see him go, Weill proposed to his boss that he buy Fireman’s Fund from the company. Though concerned about giving the impression that Weill had gotten the better of him, Robinson nevertheless allowed him to explore the possibility of a deal. At this point, Dimon suggested that Weill approach Warren Buffett. The two men met with Buffett briefly in New York and then flew to his Omaha headquarters to pitch the legend on the idea of funding a buyout.
    Buffett was interested in their proposal—he offered to buy 20 percent or more of the unit if it was sold—and the pair left Omaha thinking an opportunity was at hand. In May 1985, Weill made his proposal to the board: American Express would keep 40 percent of the business, Warren Buffett would own 40 percent, and Weill would own 20 percent, pursuant to a number of