Jerry A. Grundhofer
Chairman Emeritus
U.S. Bancorp
Grundhofer is chairman emeritus of U.S. Bancorp, a financial holding company with more than $247 billion in total assets and business operations across the United States, Canada and Europe. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank, which has nearly 2,500 full-service banking offices and 5,000 ATMs in 24 states, including, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. U.S. Bancorp is also the parent company of Elavon, a leader in the payment processing industry, which provides global merchant processing services to financial institutions and clients in the United States, Canada and Europe. U.S. Bancorp provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions and is headquartered in Minneapolis.
Grundhofer, who retired as chairman of the board of U.S. Bancorp in December 2007, has served as chairman of the organization since December 2002. He also served as president and chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp from the time of the merger of Firstar Corporation and U.S. Bancorp in February 2001 until October 2004, and continued as chief executive officer until December 2006. From 1993 until the merger, he served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp predecessors Firstar Corporation and Star Banc Corporation.
When Grundhofer joined the organization in 1993 (then known as Star Banc), it had 200 branches in three states, $7.6 billion in total assets and a market capitalization of $1 billion. At Grundhofer’s retirement as chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp in December 2006, the company had grown to nearly 2,500 full-service branches in 24 states, with more than $219 billion in total assets and a market capitalization of nearly $63.9 billion. During the 13 1/2 years of Grundhofer's tenure as CEO, US Bancorp shareholders realized the highest total shareholder return among the nation’s largest banks -- 1,253 percent, or a compounded annual growth rate of 21 percent.
Grundhofer has more than 40 years of experience in the banking industry and was the key player in the successful merger of Star Banc Corporation with Firstar Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in November 1998. Prior to the Star-Firstar merger, Grundhofer was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Star Banc Corporation. Then in 1999, Grundhofer successfully merged Firstar and Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. of St. Louis. In 2001, Firstar acquired U.S. Bancorp making the “new” U.S. Bancorp the 6th largest financial holding company in the United States.
Grundhofer had one basic principle of management throughout his career: “grow revenues faster than expenses and great things happen.” American Banker, the leading daily publication of the financial services industry, named him “Banker of the Year” in January 2000. Grundhofer was also named “Banker of the Year” by Forbes magazine for 1998. In 1999, Firstar was the only bank, and one of only 32 companies, to be named to The Wall Street Journal’s “Shareholder Scoreboard” Honor Roll for outstanding return to shareholders over a five-year period. American Banker called Firstar the best performing bank in the United States with a total return to shareholders of more than 64 percent in 1998. In 1999, The Economist and Strategic Finance also named Firstar the second-best performing financial services institution in world for the past five years. Firstar was also named to Standard & Poor’s 500 Index on December 31, 1998. In October 1999, the book “The 100 Best Stocks to Own in America,” ranked Firstar number two. U.S. Bancorp was named as the top performing large-bank in the country, according to Bank Director Magazine’s 2005 and 2006 Bank Performance Scorecard.
Prior to joining Star Banc in 1993, Grundhofer served as a vice chairman of the board for BankAmerica Corporation, headquartered in San Francisco, and was a member of the board of directors for Bank of America, NT&SA and BankAmerica Corporation. In 1992, prior to the merger between BankAmerica and Security Pacific corporations, Grundhofer was president and chief executive officer of Security Pacific National Bank, and a member of the board of directors of Security Pacific Corporation and Security Pacific National Bank. Grundhofer began his banking career in 1967 in Southern California and has extensive experience in retail banking, wholesale banking and middle market lending.
Grundhofer has been involved in philanthropic, civic, cultural, non-profit, industry and educational boards throughout his career in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. As well as serving as chairman emeritus of U.S. Bancorp, Grundhofer also serves on the board of directors of Ecolab Inc. and Lehman Brothers. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.