:Robert G. Wilmers
{{Short description|American billionaire banker}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Robert G. Wilmers
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Robert George Wilmers
| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|04|20}}
| birth_place = New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|12|17|1934|04|20}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| education = Phillips Exeter Academy
| alma mater = Harvard College
| occupation =
| title = Chairman and CEO, M&T Bank
| term = 1983–2017
| predecessor =
| successor =
| known for =
| boards =
| spouse = Elisabeth Wilmers
| children =
}}
Robert George "Bob" Wilmers (April 20, 1934 – December 16, 2017) was an American billionaire banker.{{cite web|author=Stocks |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=272287&ticker=MTB |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130407214017/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=272287&ticker=MTB |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 7, 2013 |title=Stocks - Bloomberg |website=Investing.businessweek.com |access-date=2017-01-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/profile/robert-wilmers/|title=Robert Wilmers - Forbes|website=Forbes|date=25 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625035124/http://www.forbes.com/profile/robert-wilmers/|access-date=28 October 2021|archive-date=2013-06-25}} He was the chairman and CEO of M&T Bank from 1983 until his death in 2017, except for an 18-month break in 2005 - 2006.Joe Nocera, [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/opinion/31nocera.html?_r=0 The Good Banker], The New York Times, May 30, 2011
Early life and education
Robert George Wilmers was born in New York{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7df51836-e367-11e7-97e2-916d4fbac0da |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211/https://www.ft.com/content/7df51836-e367-11e7-97e2-916d4fbac0da |archive-date=2022-12-11 |url-access=subscription|title=Longest serving US bank chief and industry figure dies|date=17 December 2017|newspaper=Financial Times|author=McLannahan, Ben}} on April 20, 1934, as one of three children to Charles Wilmers, an executive with the Belgium utility holding company, Sofina, who would eventually become its president, and his wife Cecilia. He grew up in New York City and Belgium.{{cite web|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2002-11-17/business/0211160322_1_buffalo-bank-lake-erie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928013810/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2002-11-17/business/0211160322_1_buffalo-bank-lake-erie |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 28, 2015 |title=Robert Wilmers Children | All banking is local - tribunedigital-baltimoresun |website=Articles.baltimoresun.com |date=2002-11-17 |access-date=2017-01-28}} His sister Mary-Kay Wilmers is the editor of the London Review of Books, the well-known literary journal.
He graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College (1956), and attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Career
He started his career at Bankers Trust Co. in 1962, served in New York City government under mayor John Lindsay as a financial official in the 1960s, then went on to work at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company.
He served as chairman and CEO of M&T Bank and its subsidiary, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (M&T Bank) since 1983.
In 1992, the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Management named Wilmers Niagara Frontier Executive of the Year. In 1991, the Greater Buffalo Chamber of Commerce named him Western New Yorker of the Year. He received honorary degrees from Canisius College (1988), Niagara University (1991) and the State University of New York at Buffalo (2004). He was cited by The Buffalo News in 1987 and 1994 as a Citizen of the Year. Wilmers retired as CEO in 2005 but returned 18 months later after his successor, Robert Sadler, stepped down from the post{{cite web|url=https://www.americanbanker.com/news/robert-wilmers-longtime-m-t-chairman-and-ceo-dies-at-83|title=Robert Wilmers, longtime M&T chairman and CEO, dies at 83|publisher=American Banker|author=Peters, Andy|date=17 December 2017}} and later received the 2005 American Banker Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Wilmers was awarded Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the President of France. In December 2011, he was named Banker of the Year by American Banker.Matthew Monks, [http://www.americanbanker.com/special-reports/176_13/best-in-banking-banker-of-the-year-wilmers-1044472-1.html?_r=0 A Throwback Approach Keeps Wilmers, M&T on Top], American Banker, November 30, 2011
He purchased Chateau Haut-Bailly, a winery in Bordeaux, France, in 1998.{{Cite journal|last=Frank|first=Mitch|date=March 2018|title=Bob Wilmers, Banker and Chateau Haut-Bailly Owner|journal=Wine Spectator|pages=16}}
He served as chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation from 2008 to 2009, chairman of the New York State Bankers Association in 2002 and as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1993 to 1998.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}
In 2011, he was named "banker of the year" by American Banker.{{cite web |url=http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/american-banker-names-robert-g-wilmers-of-mt-bank-corp-banker-of-the-year-1593500.htm |title=American Banker Names Robert G. Wilmers of M&T; Bank Corp. Banker of the Year |website=www.marketwired.com |access-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031147/http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/american-banker-names-robert-g-wilmers-of-mt-bank-corp-banker-of-the-year-1593500.htm |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.mtb.com/leadership-team/robert-g-wilmers.htm|title=Robert G. Wilmers, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer - M&T Bank Newsroom|website=Newsroom.mtb.com|access-date=19 November 2017}}
In 2016, together with several partners, he purchased a group of newspapers in western New England, including The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, MA.{{Cite news |last=Fanto |first=Clarence |date=22 April 2016 |title=The Berkshire Eagle returning to local ownership |work=The Berkshire Eagle |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/the-berkshire-eagle-returning-to-local-ownership,189774? |access-date=23 March 2023}}
In January 2017, the rising value of bank stocks meant that Wilmers had become a billionaire.{{cite news|author=Tom Metcalf |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-19/buffalo-banker-becomes-billionaire-as-trump-spurs-finance-rally |title=The Bank Rally Mints a New Billionaire Banker |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2017-01-19 |access-date=2017-01-28}}
Personal life and death
His widow Elisabeth Wilmers is French, and they owned Château Haut-Bailly from 1998 until his death, as well as the nearby property Château Le Pape from 2012 onwards.{{cite web|url=https://www.chateau-haut-bailly.com/en/aujourdhui |title=aujourdhui | Château Haut Bailly |website=Chateau-haut-bailly.com |date=1998-07-30 |access-date=2017-01-28}}
Wilmers died at his home in New York City on December 16, 2017.{{cite web|url=http://buffalonews.com/2017/12/17/mt-chairman-wilmers-has-died/|title=M&T Bank Chairman Bob Wilmers dies|date=17 December 2017|access-date=17 December 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/eagle-co-owner-bob-wilmers-dies-was-ceo-and-chairman-of-mt-bank,527287|title=Eagle co-owner Bob Wilmers dies; was CEO and chairman of M&T Bank|date=17 December 2017 |access-date=17 December 2017}} The cause of death was a heart attack while recovering from a recent surgery.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmers, Robert}}
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:21st-century American businesspeople
Category:American billionaires
Category:Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York
Category:Harvard Business School alumni
Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
Category:American chief executives of financial services companies