JPMorgan Co-Head of Investment Banking to Leave

One of the leaders of JPMorgan Chase’s enormous investment bank, Michael J. Cavanagh, plans to leave the firm, in the latest departure of a senior executive.

He will join the Carlyle Group, a major private equity firm and a longtime client of JPMorgan Chase, in the newly created role of co-president, Carlyle announced on Tuesday.

The departure is the latest of a member of the inner circle at JPMorgan in recent years, including some of Mr. Dimon’s closest confidants, among them: Charles W. Scharf, former head of retail; James E. Staley, former head of the investment bank; and Heidi Miller, a onetime head of international.

But Mr. Cavanagh’s exit is one of the most surprising. He has long been a top lieutenant to the firm’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, and his ascent through the ranks had marked him as a potential successor to his boss.

He arrived at JPMorgan with Mr. Dimon in 2004 from Bank One, serving as chief financial officer through the financial crisis and then as head of treasury and securities services. He also led an internal analysis of the firm’s chief investment office after it lost billions of dollars on a soured trading bet.

Mr. Cavanagh was promoted to co-head of the investment bank about two years ago. But having played prominent roles in two of JPMorgan’s most trying times, he wanted a change in career, according to a person briefed on the matter.

“I have worked with Mike Cavanagh for more than 20 years,” Mr. Dimon said in a statement. “He’s a highly talented executive and has been an integral part of our management team, as our C.F.O. for six years and as co-C.E.O. of the corporate & investment bank. He’s also a special person and we wish him well in his choice to take on a new challenge.”

Daniel Pinto, who served as co-chief executive of the investment bank, will now be the unit’s sole leader.

At Carlyle, Mr. Cavanagh will serve as co-president alongside Glenn A. Youngkin, a veteran of the firm.

“I have worked at JPMorgan Chase for almost my entire professional life, and it was not without a lot of soul searching that I decided it was time for me to take my career in a different direction,” Mr. Cavanagh said in a statement. “I wouldn’t have left for any company other than the Carlyle Group, a firm and a management team I have known for a long time.”