Who started Bank of America
Bank of America started as Bank of Italy and its founder was Amedeo Giannini. Son of Italian immigrants to the US, started the Bank of Italy in a converted saloon in San Francisco at 9 am on Monday, October, 17 1904. When an earthquake struck in 1907, he ran his bank from a plank in the street – the word “bank” is from the Italian “banca”, meaning a bench or counter. Word quickly spread about his service and by 1916 he had several branches. By 1929, the bank was strong enough to withstand the Great Depression stock crash. Giannini changed the name to Bank of America in 1928 and remained chairman until 1963.
