Bank of America(BAC)

The Breakthrough Moment

Bank of America traces its roots to Bank of Italy, founded in 1904 by Amadeo Peter Giannini (A.P. Giannini), son of Italian immigrants in San Francisco. Frustrated that banks only served the wealthy, requiring large deposits and collateral, Giannini created a bank for working people - immigrants, fishermen, fruit vendors. When board members said poor people don't save money and are bad credit risks, Giannini proved them wrong. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his bank, he rescued $2 million in gold and securities, set up a makeshift bank on Washington Street wharf using a plank across two barrels, and made loans based on character alone, accepting any collateral including future earnings. This bold move helped rebuild San Francisco and established the bank's reputation. The Bank of Italy became Bank of America in 1930, growing through mergers to become one of the world's largest banks. Key mergers included Security Pacific (1992), Continental Illinois (1994), FleetBoston (2004), Merrill Lynch (2008 during financial crisis), and Countrywide (2008). Today Bank of America serves 69 million consumers and small businesses with $3.2 trillion in assets.