Amadeo Giannini: Story of Success Through Difficult Times

Amadeo Pietro Giannini was an American banker who was more popularly known as the founder of Bank of America. He was also known as A.P. Giannini or Amadeo Peter Giannini. He was born on May 6, 1870 in San Jose, California. His parents immigrated from the Kingdom of Sardinia (now a part of Italy) to the US to take part in the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855.

Giannini’s father, Luigi, was murdered by an employee over a pay dispute in 1876. His mother, Virginia, took over the family’s business until Giannini was an adolescent. In 1880, Virginia married Lorenzo Scatena, who founded the L. Scatena & Co. Giannini dropped out of school and worked for l. Scatena & Co. as produce broker.

When Giannini became successful in his career, he married Clorinda Cuneo. His father-in-law was a wealthy real estate businessman. Giannini retired at 31 to take care of his father-in-law’s estate, including his interest in the Columbus Savings and Loan. Giannini became a director of the bank. While there, he noted the opportunity to service the burgeoning immigrant population, however, the other directors did not share Giannini’s sentiments. In his frustration, Giannini resigned from the bank’s board to start his own bank.

On October 17, 1904, Giannini established the Bank of Italy. The bank started in a converted saloon in San Francisco, which Giannini called “an institution for the ‘little fellow’. His bank serviced the hardworking immigrants which were ignored by other banks.

When an earthquake hit San Francisco in 1906, Giannini opened a temporary bank that collected deposits and released loans. Immediately after the earthquake, Giannini moved his vault to protect it from fires caused by the earthquake. While other banks closed for weeks, Giannini was the only one who provided loans.

By 1916, Giannini opened began branching out. He believed that branch banking would help stabilize his bank during hard times, like what happened in San Francisco in 1906. He acquired a number of banks in California, bringing the number of his bank’s branches to more than five hundred.

Giannini sealed a merger with Bank of America in 1928. The merger kept the name of Bank of America. Giannini was credited for a number of banking principles, including the holding company structure.