McColl: The Man With America's Money

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but too much fluff
Review: Althought I enjoyed this book about Hugh McColl, I got the impression it was another part to McColl's PR effort. The book was so flattering in its portrayal of Mr. McColl you wondered if Bank of America might not have subsidized it. Even with that criticism, I still recommend the book to anyone interested in the background of the buyer of Bank of America.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining look at America's premiere banker
Review: As a former Bank of America employee, I read with interest Ross Yockey's authorized biography of Hugh McColl. McColl proves to be a shark when it comes to buying banks, devouring one bank after another in an effort to build a coast to coast banking franchise. Yockey provides much detail of McColl's early years, growing up in an affluent household (McColl's father owned banks and land) as well as McColl's efforts to impress his hard-to-please father. It was McColl's father who gave his son a push into banking, making a phone call to an old friend to help Hugh land a bank job with NCNB. The book details McColl's rise in NCNB, and, once he became more powerful in that organization, his many business conquests, first taking over, with military precision, small banks in North and South Carolina and then moving on to larger banks in Texas, Georgia, Florida, Missouri and finally San Francisco's Bank of America. On the negative side, the details of the BofA/NationsBank "merger of equals" are sparse, but I understand that the book was printed too soon to provide any information that isn't already available in newspapers. Also somewhat tiring is Yockey's, or McColl's, negative image of anything north of Baltimore and west of Charlotte. Throughout the book, there are constant negative references to anything outside of the South. Yockey also paints McColl as a man who believes deeply in diversity. But his contempt for anything outside of the South (or anyone who is not a former NationBank employee) makes one wonder how sincere McColl really is about diversity and inclusion. One interesting note, not mentioned in the book, is that most of the senior female employees in the old Bank of America left the bank soon after the merger. If McColl truly believes in diversity, I'm sure more would have stayed. It is also interesting to note that, in all of McColl's major takeovers, most of the senior staff (both male and female) in the takeover targets were either forced out or left the organization. McColl clearly shows loyalty to his old NB teammates and seems to have difficulty accepting his new associates. Overall, the book was enjoyable and entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: McColl
Review: Ross Yockey does an exceptional job of explaining the ins and outs of bankings most aggressive company while capturing the thoughts and emotions of the very real human beings involved. Inspiration can be drawn from this book for all walks of life.