Florida National Bank (FNB), founded in 1905, grew to became the second largest
commercial bankA commercial bank is a type of financial intermediary and a type of bank. Commercial banking is also known as business banking. It is a bank that provides checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts and that accepts time deposits. After the Great Depression, the U.S...
in
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
. Florida National Group was acquired in 1990 by
First Union CorporationThis is historical reference before it acquired, merged assets and took the name Wachovia, later became Wells FargoFirst Union Corporation was a banking company providing commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern US...
, which was renamed
WachoviaWachovia, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a diversified, wholly owned financial services subsidiary of Wells Fargo. As an independent company, it was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets. Wachovia, being one of the oldest banks we know about...
in 2001.
Samuel Hubbard's Mercantile Exchange Bank eventually became Florida National Bank after Jacksonville's
Great Fire of 1901The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the Southeast...
. Millionaire
Alfred I. du PontAlfred Irénée du Pont was an American industrialist, financier and philanthropist.- Early years :Alfred was born in the Brandywine Valley region of Delaware; the middle child and first male of five children of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, II and his mother, Charlotte Shepard Henderson...
acquired a major interest in the FNB shortly after moving to Jacksonville in the mid-1920s, but he was unable to gain control until the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
struck in 1929.
Florida National Bank (FNB), founded in 1905, grew to became the second largest
commercial bankA commercial bank is a type of financial intermediary and a type of bank. Commercial banking is also known as business banking. It is a bank that provides checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts and that accepts time deposits. After the Great Depression, the U.S...
in
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
. Florida National Group was acquired in 1990 by
First Union CorporationThis is historical reference before it acquired, merged assets and took the name Wachovia, later became Wells FargoFirst Union Corporation was a banking company providing commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern US...
, which was renamed
WachoviaWachovia, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a diversified, wholly owned financial services subsidiary of Wells Fargo. As an independent company, it was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets. Wachovia, being one of the oldest banks we know about...
in 2001.
Early years
Samuel Hubbard's Mercantile Exchange Bank eventually became Florida National Bank after Jacksonville's
Great Fire of 1901The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the Southeast...
. Millionaire
Alfred I. du PontAlfred Irénée du Pont was an American industrialist, financier and philanthropist.- Early years :Alfred was born in the Brandywine Valley region of Delaware; the middle child and first male of five children of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, II and his mother, Charlotte Shepard Henderson...
acquired a major interest in the FNB shortly after moving to Jacksonville in the mid-1920s, but he was unable to gain control until the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
struck in 1929. The FNB stayed solvent throughout the 1930s because du Pont put $15 million of his own money into the institution to cover
Bank runA bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their deposits because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvent...
s. During the early 1930s, six other Florida National Banks were opened throughout Florida, including Lakeland and Bartow; Alfred's wife, Jessie Ball du Pont was named a director of the bank. When Alfred du Pont died in 1935, the du Pont Trust, managed by Ed Ball, Jessie du Pont's brother, continued to control the bank. Growth continued with the acquisition of many more Florida banks over the next two decades and became known as the
Florida National Group, which was one of the strongest banks in the state. In size, the branches eventually numbered 185, second only in Florida to
Barnett BankBarnett Bank, founded in 1877, eventually became the largest commercial bank in Florida. It was purchased by NationsBank in 1997, but even before signs on Barnett's branches were changed, NationsBank merged with BankAmerica Corp. in 1998, creating Bank of America.Barnett Bank was founded by Bion...
.
Ball built the Florida National Bank building at 214 North Hogan Street in Jacksonville in 1961. The structure was constructed using materials which would appreciate in value, such as marble floors and granite exteriors, but excluded items that Ball considered frills. There were no executive washrooms and no hot water faucets in the entire eleven story edifice. The corporate offices of the group were housed in the upper floors and the bank's principal location was on the ground floor. Ed Ball also kept his personal office there for managing the du Pont Trust. After Ball's death, the structure was renamed the
Edward Ball Building.
Congress forced the du Pont Trust to divest itself of banking interests when they withdrew the trust's 15-year exemption from the
Bank Holding Company Act of 1956The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 is a United States Act of Congress that regulates the actions of bank holding companies....
. The trust sold 34.7% ownership in Florida National Banks to
Charter CompanyThe Charter Company of Jacksonville, Florida was a conglomerate with more than 180 subsidiaries that was in the Fortune 500 for 11 years beginning in 1974 and ranked 61st in 1984 before it sought bankruptcy protection in late 1984 and spiraled into obscurity....
in 1971 for $42M, leaving the du Pont Trust with 24.9%, below the legal definition of a bank holding company. The CEO of Charter was
Raymond MasonRaymond Mason is a sculptor.He trained at the Birmingham School of Arts and Crafts under William Bloye, the Royal College of Art , and Slade School of Art...
, a protege of Ed Ball. Additionally, Ed Ball personally owned 6.4% of FNB and was executor of his sister's estate, which owned 4.5% of FNB.
On July 9, 1973, the Federal Reserve Board issued a preliminary determination that the du Pont Trust had retained enough stock that would allow the trust to continue to exert some control over the bank. Ball was forced to sell the trust's remaining shares and resign as chairman of FNB. However, the du Pont Trust owned a significant block of Charter stock, and the close personal relationship between Mason and Ball still allowed some indirect control.
Acquisition
Southeast Banking Corporation (SBC), Florida's largest bank holding company, targeted FNB with a takeover bid in 1980, which the FNB board rejected. That same year, a group of foreign investors from Chile, Venezuela, Canada and south Florida sought 40% ownership and control of FNB. FNB filed suit in circuit court and the group was enjoined from acquiring more than 25% of the bank holding company's outstanding shares. However, Florida National revealed in 1981 that it was willing to permit acquisition by
Chemical Banking CorporationThe Chemical Banking Corporation was the bank holding company for Chemical Bank in New York City from 1823 until 1996. It changed its name to Chase following the acquisition of Chase Manhattan.-History:...
of
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
after laws preventing interstate banking were lifted. At the same time, C.A. Cavendes Sociedad Financiera, a Venezuelan investment company, announced that it had acquired 24.99 percent of the common stock of Florida National.
In February, 1982, SBC sued to obtain an injunction against the merger in Federal court, citing contrary banking laws in both Federal and Florida codes. Florida National Bank countered with an antitrust suit against SBC. It was FNB's contention that if SBC were allowed to complete the takeover, commercial banking competition would be unlawfully reduced.
In early 1983, Southeast Banking Corporation dropped its takeover attempt and agreed to exchange their 1.73 million FNB shares for 24 FNB branch offices, $5.7M in cash, a downtown Miami real estate parcel and other assets. This was during the time when Charter was going through a bankruptcy. The Federal Reserve Board approved a revised merger plan between FNB and Chemical Bank in 1984. However, at the time, interstate banking acquisitions were prohibited by Federal law and required state legislative approval. With the 1990 deadline running out for its option to buy FNB and no sign of state legislative approval, Chemical Bank sold their 4.9% interest to First Union for $115 million. On March 7, 1989, it was revealed that Florida National Banks was to be acquired by
Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. Charlotte's population was estimated to be 687,456 in 2008, making it the 18th largest city in the United States. Residents of Charlotte are referred to as "Charlotteans"...
's
First Union CorporationThis is historical reference before it acquired, merged assets and took the name Wachovia, later became Wells FargoFirst Union Corporation was a banking company providing commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern US...
. The transaction, valued at $849 million, was consummated the following year.