A. P. Giannini: The Man with the Midas Touch

A. P. Giannini: The Man with the Midas Touch

At six, he witnessed his father's murder. At 12, he regularly sneaked out to the waterfront at midnight. At 15, he quit school. At 30, he retired, a self-made man. Then the real work of his life began. In 1904, A. P. Giannini (1870-1949) founded Bank of Italy, the predecessor of today's Bank of America, to serve his ethnic neighborhood in San Francisco. Against a backdrop of earthquake and fire, anti-immigrant fervor, war, and the Great Depression, he broke every rule and tradition on his way to a showdown with Wall Street. This riveting story of an outsider with something to prove is an American classic. A. P. Giannini The Man with the Midas Touch By Dana Haight Cattani Angela B. Haight AuthorHouse Copyright © 2009 Dana Haight Cattani and Angela B. Haight All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4389-5492-9 Contents Preface....................................................xi1. Sneaking Out............................................12. Turning Oranges to Gold.................................53. Sticking to Business....................................74. Courting Clorinda.......................................135. Beating Boss Buckley....................................176. A New Career............................................217. Bank of Italy...........................................258. The Inferno.............................................299. The Escape..............................................3910. The Bank on the Wharf..................................4511. Business as Usual......................................5112. Staying Calm in a Panic................................5513. Expanding the Bank.....................................5914. Invading Los Angeles...................................6515. From Suffrage to Savings Accounts......................6916. Outgrowing North Beach.................................7317. Joining the Wall Street Club...........................7718. Hard Times.............................................8319. Building the Golden Gate Bridge........................9120. Lending a Hand to the Seven Dwarfs.....................9521. Banking on the Home Front..............................9922. The Peace Dividend.....................................10723. Retiring Once More.....................................111Authors' Note..............................................116Glossary of Financial Terms................................118What's the Big Deal about Interest?........................122Which is More: Dollars or Quarters?........................124Timeline...................................................126Bibliography...............................................128Websites...................................................130Answers....................................................131 Chapter One Sneaking Out 1882 Jackson Street San Francisco A. P. Giannini tiptoed to the back door. He carried his shoes so he would not wake his mother. She would be furious if she caught her 12-year-old son sneaking out again, but A. P. could not resist following his stepfather, Pop, to work. About midnight, the paddle-wheel steamers began arriving at the Washington Street wharf, and A. P. wanted to be there. He hurried through the darkened streets. When he reached the wharf, the docks buzzed with sound and activity. By the light of smoky oil lamps, workers unloaded crates of fruits and vegetables from the ships. Produce sellers hawked their goods in many languages. Pop carefully inspected the fruits and vegetables. He bargained for some of the best. Then he sold it to restaurants and grocery stores in the city. A. P. wanted to help. Each ship carried a manifest, or list, of its cargo and passengers. When the steamers docked and the other traders were busy, A. P. copied each manifest in tidy penmanship for Pop. Once Pop knew exactly how much produce was available that night, he could decide how much to buy and how much to pay. Night after night, A. P. watched attentively. He learned the names and faces of everyone on the wharf. Pop and his friends talked about freak storms and cold snaps, pests and drought. They complained about shortages, price gouging, and cheats. They celebrated bumper crops and bargains. They talked about the money they sometimes borrowed from the produce companies. A. P. breathed in all this information along with the chill night air. When the sun rose, wagons carried off the produce, and the night's work was done. A. P. rushed home to eat. After breakfast, it was time for school. A. P.'s mother insisted that he learn to read and write in English. He did, and he was determined to be the best in his class. A. P. liked Washington Street Grammar School, but it was the Washington Street wharf that he loved. Chapter Two Turning Oranges to Gold 1884 411 Green Street San Francisco Early one morning, A. P. woke to the muffled voices of his parents talking in the kitchen. He lay very still, trying to make out their wor