How does it feel to be proudly called the ‘Man Friday’ of the company, then terribly blamed to be a gambler in a CEO’s disguise and finally dethroned being accused of gifting credit crisis to the bank…this man has taken it all!
Back in the late 1990s when Thompson took control of First Union (FU), the bank was pleading for a financial cure, and in 1997 the situation was aggravated by the merger with CoreStates Financial Corporation as FU paid $20 billion, a sum that was six times the then book value. Right before beginning his tenure as president and CEO, he proved his worth to FU through the significant purchase of Money Store, a subprime lender and produced sufficient revenue to maintain the bank’s profits at a reputable level, extenuating a crisis that could have been devastating. He is also credited to have acquired its North Carolina rival Wachovia Corp. in 2001 and we know the story of this rare merger’s reverberating success.
Furthermore, Thompson learnt from his predecessor Crutchfield’s mistakes and created a style and substance of his own differentiating it from Crutchfield’s. He made it very clear that he wouldn’t follow belligerent acquisition policies that had made Edward Crutchfield unpopular and led a conservative strategy emphasising on teamwork, cooperation and flexibility committing to develop FU by focusing on consumer service and retention. In 2002, another so-called bold and unorthodox acquisition was carried out by him in the form of Prudential Financial that made Wachovia Securities, the fourth largest brokerage firm on Wall Street. Even Business Week honoured him declaring him as one of the best managers for the year 2003.
Golden West may have ended his career at Wachovia, but Wachovia can’t thank him enough for his contributions. Can it? And just as Robbie ends, Thompson too wants to be known as a “better man”. He does, doesn’t he?! Do ask him when you meet him next...
Back in the late 1990s when Thompson took control of First Union (FU), the bank was pleading for a financial cure, and in 1997 the situation was aggravated by the merger with CoreStates Financial Corporation as FU paid $20 billion, a sum that was six times the then book value. Right before beginning his tenure as president and CEO, he proved his worth to FU through the significant purchase of Money Store, a subprime lender and produced sufficient revenue to maintain the bank’s profits at a reputable level, extenuating a crisis that could have been devastating. He is also credited to have acquired its North Carolina rival Wachovia Corp. in 2001 and we know the story of this rare merger’s reverberating success.
Furthermore, Thompson learnt from his predecessor Crutchfield’s mistakes and created a style and substance of his own differentiating it from Crutchfield’s. He made it very clear that he wouldn’t follow belligerent acquisition policies that had made Edward Crutchfield unpopular and led a conservative strategy emphasising on teamwork, cooperation and flexibility committing to develop FU by focusing on consumer service and retention. In 2002, another so-called bold and unorthodox acquisition was carried out by him in the form of Prudential Financial that made Wachovia Securities, the fourth largest brokerage firm on Wall Street. Even Business Week honoured him declaring him as one of the best managers for the year 2003.
Golden West may have ended his career at Wachovia, but Wachovia can’t thank him enough for his contributions. Can it? And just as Robbie ends, Thompson too wants to be known as a “better man”. He does, doesn’t he?! Do ask him when you meet him next...
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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