When people talk about giant corporations they imagine colossal edifices and huge revenues, they think that those who work at these entities are very rich men, which have luxurious cars and villas. And only qualified professionals realize that it is not the assets or revenues themselves that make the name of a company it is the people who stand behind the name. Moreover, it is not about that top executives of these mammoths are walking in golden slippers; it is about their ability or inability to lead both the personnel and the business in such a way that can result in universal benefit and reputable brand.

Three men who erected the great name

The history of the largest banks in the USA is the story of the two separate institutions that once entered into a merger agreement to form the phenomenon known today as Bank of America. These institutions were BankAmerica and NationsBank and each of them started in 1904 and 1874 respectively. Here you are with the brief narration of some most important events in the life of the both organizations that today have the one life.

Giannini

As it was already mentioned BankAmerica’s origin traces back to 1904 when Amadeo Peter Giannini founded most innovative financial institution at the time named the Bank of Italy. It was the first bank that focused on a general consumer lending money to the average citizen which was unheard of in the early 1900s, when most banks lent only on a wholesale basis to commercial clients or wealthy individuals. Giannini raised capital for his new bank, called the Bank of Italy, by selling 3,000 shares of stock, mostly to small investors, none of whom were allowed to own more than 100 shares. Although Giannini never held a dominant share of stock, the extreme loyalty of these and subsequent stockholders allowed him to rule the bank as though it were closely held.

Giannini’s emphasis on general public was the leading factor in most decisions taken by the governing body which brought incredible success to the bank. He realized the need in creating branch banking system as long as he saw that small depositors were prevented from using the services of the bank on the score of high expenses for traveling long distances. Thus, Giannini decided his bank would go to them, with numerous well-placed branches. Accordingly, the Bank of Italy bought its first branch, a struggling San Jose bank, in 1909.

The bank experienced a tremendous growth with the assets achieved $6.5 million in 1910 and $157 million by 1920. However, further expansion was interrupted by the regulation of the state of California and the Federal Reserve System, the creation of which, by the way, was prompted by an up-and-down economy and the financial irresponsibility of many banks during this period that gave banking a bad name. Thereby, the regulation did not allow member banks to open new branches. Giannini shrewdly sidestepped this regulation by establishing separate state banks for southern and northern California (in addition to the Bank of Italy) as well as another national bank, and putting them all under the control of a new holding company, BancItaly. Finally, in 1927, California regulations were changed to permit branch banking, and Giannini consolidated his four banks into the Bank of America of California.

Giannini dreamed to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry. Thus, in 1928 Giannini created a holding company to supplant BancItaly. The new company was called Transamerica, to symbolize what Giannini hoped to accomplish in banking.

Yet, that was just a beginning of all the troubles and obstacles on the way of his dream. In light of the necessity to find its place in the Wall Street so as to realize the plan of nationwide branch banking the bank needed a person to help this task. Giannini thought Elisha Walker, the head of Blair and Company, an old-line Wall Street investment-banking firm, was just the man. So, in 1929, the year Bank of America passed the $1 billion mark in assets, Transamerica bought Blair.

A year later, Giannini consolidated his two banking systems into the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, under the control of Transamerica. Sixty years old and in poor health, he relinquished the presidency to Walker, retired for the second time, and went to Europe to recuperate. It was again a short retirement. His stay ended abruptly in 1931, when he received news that Walker was trying to liquidate Transamerica.

Giannini headed straight for California, where three-quarters of the bank's stockholders remained. What followed was one of the most dramatic proxy fights in U.S. history. Giannini crisscrossed California, holding stockholder meetings in town halls, gymnasiums, courthouses, and other public spaces. A poor public speaker, he hired orators to drive home the message that Walker and eastern interests, the dreaded "big guys" Giannini had battled against for years, were trying to ruin the bank. The campaign succeeded and the stockholders returned control of the Bank of America to Giannini.

Giannini's presence seemed to be just the right thing. By 1936, Bank of America was the fourth-largest banking institution in the United States (and the second-largest savings bank) and assets had grown to $2.1 billion. The bank continued to innovate, instituting a series of new loans called Timeplan installment loans. Timeplan included real estate loans, new and used car financing, personal credit loans from $50 to $1,000, home appliance financing, and home-improvement loans, all industry firsts. Giannini continued to battle, and win, against the big interests, until his death in 1949. From radical outsider to the leader of what Business Week called the "new orthodoxy" of banking--the trend toward serving average consumers--Giannini's was one of the most innovative careers in twentieth-century banking.

Following the deaths of the Gianninis, Bank of America slowly made itself over. New chief Clark Beise moved to decentralize operations, encouraging branch managers to assume more responsibility for their branches. This approach paid off with tremendous growth; by 1960, assets totaled $11.9 billion. The bank continued to innovate. In 1959, it was the first bank to fund a small-business investment company. It was also the first U.S. bank to adopt electronic and computerized record-keeping; by 1961, operations were completely computerized. Other new programs included student loans, an employee loan-and-deposit plan that let workers transact bank business through their offices (a response to increased competition from credit unions), and the first successful credit card, BankAmericard, the predecessor of Visa.

The passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, prohibited banks from owning non-banking subsidiaries such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the latter company continuing in the insurance business.

In 1968, BankAmerica Corporation was created as a holding company to hold the assets of Bank of America N.T. & S.A. and to help the bank expand and better challenge its arch-rival, Citibank.

Clausen

In 1971 A.W. "Tom" Clausen succeeded Rudy Peterson as chief executive officer. He presided over Bank of America's last tremendous growth spurt--assets jumped 50 percent (to $60 billion) just between 1973 and 1975. Bank of America was the only one of the 20 largest U.S. banks to average 15 percent growth between 1971 and 1978; its seemingly unstoppable growth earned its management great praise during the 1970s.

When Clausen left Bank of America in 1981 to head the World Bank, Bank of America had $112.9 billion in assets. Clausen was replaced by 40-year-old Samuel Armacost. Soon the Bank of America began to fall apart. Armacost started a general campaign to cut costs. The bank dropped a third of its 3,000 corporate clients, sold subsidiaries and its headquarters building, closed 187 branches, and began to lay off employees, something it had never done before. In 1986, the wounded BankAmerica became the target of a takeover bid from a company half its size. First Interstate Bancorp offered $2.78 billion for the nation's second-largest banking group.

Earlier federal banking regulators prohibited Bank of America's interstate banking activity, and Bank of America's domestic banks outside California were forced into a separate company that eventually became First Interstate Bancorp. And now this very company wanted to buy the giant.

A few days after this bid was made public in early October, Armacost resigned and was replaced by none other than Tom Clausen, the man many blamed for BankAmerica's troubles in the first place. Clausen resisted the takeover, but Joe Pinola, Interstate's chairman, was determined, and by the end of October had sweetened the deal to $3.4 billion. Clausen was equally determined to prevent BankAmerica's takeover. He rejected First Interstate's bid and battened down the hatches for a hostile assault.

In the course of a number of restructuring measures taken by Clausen Bank of America recovered. By 1989, BankAmerica's recovery was so strong that it was able to declare its first dividend since the fourth quarter of 1985. Industry analysts called the recovery the biggest turnaround in the history of U.S. banking. Retail operations were expanded in Nevada with the acquisition of Nevada First Bank, and in Washington with the purchase of American Savings Financial Corp. by the subsidiary Seafirst Corp., the largest bank in the Pacific Northwest. During this year, BankAmerica was the first major bank in California to announce that it would open all its branches on Saturdays and extend weekday hours for greater consumer convenience.

McColl

NationsBank was officially formed on December 31, 1991, with a merger between the $69 billion asset North Carolina National Bank Corporation (NCNB) and the $49 billion asset C&S/Sovran Corporation. The merger created the fourth-largest banking company in the United States.

NCNB traces its illustrious history back to the Commercial National Bank, which was organized by several prominent Charlotte citizens in 1874. Its initial start-up capital was $50,000. A series of mergers with other North Carolina financial institutions in the 1950s ultimately led to the creation of North Carolina National Bank on July 1, 1960. At the time of its formation, NCNB had 1,300 employees, 40 offices in 20 North Carolina communities and assets of $480 million. The bank continued to acquire smaller institutions, and by 1969 NCNB had grown to 91 offices in 27 North Carolina counties with deposits of more than one billion dollars. Ten years later, it stood as the state's largest bank.

In spring of 1989, C&S was successful in resisting a takeover bid by NCNB. At the time, C&S cited what it considered a low price offer and concerns about NCNB's recent entry into the then-depressed Texas banking market. Soon thereafter, C&S and Sovran merged in a deal finalized on September 1, 1990.

On June 20, McColl, who served as NationsBank's CEO from 1983 to 1998 and then as Bank of America Corp.'s chairman and CEO to 2001, departed Charlotte in the NCNB plane for Atlanta to make Bennett Brown a second offer. The two banking leaders sat down in Brown's home to discuss the terms of the deal. Brown's concerns were predictable: he wanted to know about leadership, cuts in personnel and staff, the name of the new bank, and--most important--the price.

McColl supplied the right answers to all of Brown's questions. The merged bank would carry the name NationsBank, which eased concerns about the North Carolina flag flying over Georgia.

As for the issue of leadership, McColl wanted Brown to take the chairmanship, while he retained the title of CEO and president. McColl also pulled a sheet of paper from his coat that illustrated an exchange of 0.75 shares of NCNB stock for each share of C&S/Sovran. That exchange would mean a total payout of $3.99 billion for C&S/Sovran's shareholders.

The merger was approved by the Federal Reserve on November 29, 1991, and NationsBank officially opened its doors on January 2, 1992. At the time of the union, North Carolina National Bank was the tenth-largest bank in the United States, and C&S/Sovran was the twelfth largest. Together, they thrust each other to a position among the top three banking leaders in the United States.

The new entity quickly went to work to establish its presence in its chosen corporate headquarter city of Charlotte. Already, NCNB's office buildings jutted into the southern skyline, but as NationsBank the company decided to build a new headquarters building. The result of this goal was the new NationsBank Corporate Center, a pristine sixty-story tower designed by architect Cesar Pelli. At the time it was built, it became the tallest building in the Southeast, and NationsBank firmly established itself as one of the nation's financial heavyweights. As tribute to the man who led this building effort, many Charlotte onlookers began to call the new Corporate Center the "Taj McColl."

NationsBank, which had completed over 70 deals since 1980, made another aggressive move in 1998 when McColl approached BankAmerica's Coulter about merging the two companies. Both McColl and Coulter knew that by joining forces, the combined entity would be the first coast-to-coast banking company in the United States with $572 billion in assets and offices in 22 states. Coulter agreed to a "merger of equals" and on April 13, 1998, BankAmerica announced that it would team up with NationsBank in a $62 billion merger. It soon became apparent however, that NationsBank would be the dominant partner.

The merged entity, whose name officially became Bank of America Corporation, took headquarters in Charlotte and served 30 million households in the U.S. as well as customers in 38 different countries. McColl took control of the new company as chairman and CEO.

McColl retired in April 2001 and left Kenneth D. Lewis to take over as chairman and CEO. Under new leadership, Bank of America turned its efforts to independent growth, which had taken a back seat to deal-making activity for years. "Our priority is organic growth. Our strategy is to deepen, to expand relationships ... and to focus on quality of service," claimed Bank of America's chief financial officer James Hance in a 2001 American Banker article. The company also went to work on its brand image, increasing its 2002 advertising budget to $145 million--an increase of 50 percent over the previous year.

When the dust settled around the BankAmerica-NationsBank deal, the new Bank of America stood as the third largest bank in the U.S. and the thirteenth-largest U.S. corporation. Many analysts argued the firm had yet to reach the potential created by the 1998 merger and looked to Lewis to implement strategies that would secure increased earnings and positive financial results. While Bank of America appeared to be well positioned for success amid the turbulent and ever-changing banking industry, its ability to integrate the purchases of the 1990s remained key in securing future profits.

Bank of America, truly American

Today Bank of America is the largest bank by assets (US$2.72 trillion) and second largest commercial bank by deposits and market capitalization in the United States. But it is not only a place where American executives obtain their millions, it is a place where America shows itself as a free country.

As the largest bank in the world, the Bank of America was a natural target for groups with statements to make during the 1960s. It became the first major employer in California to sign a statement of racial equality in hiring. At the time, the Bank of America had more than 3,500 minority employees--more than 10 percent of its workforce. The bank also responded to complaints from women's groups by creating a $3.8 million fund for training female employees in 1974, and set itself the goal of a 40 percent-female workforce.

By 1970, Bank of America had established a $100 million loan fund for housing in poverty-stricken areas and purchased municipal bonds that other California banks would not touch. This was in keeping with the tradition Giannini had established when he bought rural school bonds and bonds for the Golden Gate Bridge at a time when no other bank would buy such issues.

Bank of America was named for the 19th year as one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" in 2007 by Working Mother magazine. In 2006 Bank of America was one of the first companies inducted into Working Mother magazine's Hall of Fame.

In 2007, DiversityInc ranked Bank of America as the number one company for diversity in this prestigious list and placed as a top employer for executive women, Hispanics, Asian Americans and for GLBT executives, as well as number one for recruitment and retention, and number six for supplier diversity.

IT Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) recognized Bank of America as the "2007 Organization of the Year." This award is presented annually for leadership in the areas of developing and embracing a diverse workforce.

National Black MBA Association awarded Bank of America the "2006 Company of the Year" for recruiting, retaining and providing advancement opportunities for blacks in the workplace. It also recognized Bank of America's Managing Director, Deputy Head of Global Investment Banking Lewis Warren, Jr. as one of the "75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street."

Bank of America was named the number one company for Hispanics by Hispanics Business Magazine in 2006. LATINA Style Magazine continues to rank Bank of America in their Top 15 for its "50 Best Companies for Latinas" which measures companies based on recruitment, retention and advancement opportunities for Latinas.

Human Rights Campaign 2006 Corporate Equality Index gave Bank of America a 100% rating for its support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender associates.

Conclusion

Well, you see it is due to sincere commitment of those executives Bank of America became what it is today. The only interest in making fortune could not have given birth to great ideas and ingenious solutions. Hopefully, there will still be such intelligent and sensible managers who will be able to lead this unique business to new horizons.