Amadeo Pietro Giannini (Italian pronunciation: [amaˈdÉ›Ë o
ˈpjÉ›Ë tro dÊ'anˈniË ni]), also known as Amadeo Peter Giannini or A.
P. Giannini (May 6, 1870 â€" June 3, 1949) was an Italian-American
banker who founded the Bank of Italy, which became Bank of America.
Giannini is credited as the inventor of many modern banking practices.
Most notably, Giannini was one of the first bankers to offer banking
services to middle-class Americans, rather than only the upper class.
He also pioneered the holding company structure and established one of
the first modern trans-national institutions.Amadeo Pietro Giannini
was born in San Jose, California, to Italian immigrant parents. He was
the first son of Luigi Giannini (1840â€"1877) and Virginia (née
Demartini) Giannini (1854â€"1920). Luigi Giannini immigrated to the
United States from Favale di Malvaro near Genoa, Liguria in the
Kingdom of Sardinia (later part of Italy) to prospect in response to
the California Gold Rush of 1849. Luigi continued in gold during the
1860s and returned to Italy in 1869 to marry Virginia, bringing her to
the US and settling in San Jose. Luigi Giannini purchased a 40-acre
farm at Alviso in 1872 and grew fruits and vegetables for sale. Four
years later Luigi Giannini was fatally shot by an employee over a pay
dispute. His widow Virginia, with two children and pregnant with a
third child, took over operation of the produce business. In 1880,
Virginia married Lorenzo Scatena (1859â€"1930) who began L. Scatena &
Co. (which A.P. Giannini would eventually take over). Giannini
attended Heald College but realized he could do better in business
than at school. In 1885, he dropped out and took a full-time position
as a produce broker for L. Scatena & Co.Giannini worked as a produce
broker, commission merchant and produce dealer for farms in the Santa
Clara Valley. He was successful in that business. He married Clorinda
Cuneo (1866â€"1949), daughter of a North Beach, San Francisco real
estate magnate, in 1892 and eventually sold his interest to his
employees and retired at the age of 31 to administer his
father-in-law's estate. He later became a director of the Columbus
Savings & Loan, in which his father-in-law owned an interest. Giannini
observed an opportunity to service the increasing immigrant population
that were without a bank. At loggerheads with the other directors who
did not share his sentiment, he quit the board in frustration and
started his own bank.Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San
Francisco on October 17, 1904. The bank was housed in a converted
saloon as an institution for the "little fellow". It was a new bank
for the hardworking immigrants other banks would not serve. Deposits
on that first day totaled $8,780. Within a year, deposits soared above
$700,000 ($13.5 million in 2002 dollars). The 1906 San Francisco
earthquake and fires leveled much of the city. In the face of
widespread devastation, Giannini set up a temporary bank, collecting
deposits, making loans, and proclaiming that San Francisco would rise
from the ashes. Amadeo Giannini Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter