Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation began on June 16, 1879 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the Wachovia National Bank. The bank was co-founded by James Alexander Gray and William Lemly. In 1911, the bank merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust Company, "the largest trust company between Baltimore and New Orleans", which had been founded on June 15, 1893. Wachovia grew to become one of the largest banks in the Southeast partly on the strength of its accounts from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which was also headquartered in Winston-Salem. On December 12, 1986, Wachovia purchased First Atlanta. Founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865, and later renamed to First National Bank of Atlanta, this institution was the oldest national bank in Atlanta. This purchase made Wachovia one of the few companies with dual headquarters: one in Winston-Salem and one in Atlanta. In 1991, Wachovia entered the South Carolina market by acquiring South Carolina National Corporation, founded as the Bank of Charleston in 1834. In 1998, Wachovia acquired two Virginia-based banks, Jefferson National Bank and Central Fidelity Bank. In 1997, Wachovia acquired both 1st United Bancorp and American Bankshares Inc, giving its first entry into Florida. In 2000, Wachovia made its final purchase, which was Republic Security Bank.
Hauck &amp; Aufhäuser
By Heinrich Aufhäuser (1842–1917) and Samuel Scharlach, the bank "Aufhäuser & Scharlach" was founded on 14 May 1870 in Munich. Already in the first years from 1870 to 1876, the balance sheet of the new bank increased fivefold. After Heinrich Aufhäuser had paid out his former partner Scharlach by 1892, the Institute was renamed "Bankhaus H. Aufhäuser" in 1894. The bank quickly gained a good reputation and soon counted et al. Duke Luitpold in Bavaria and the family of Thomas Mann as well as Neuberger and Alfred Einstein to its customers. At the turn of the century, the bank, which initially specialized in securities brokerage, became a high-volume bank. For the first time in 1913 H. Aufhäuser's balance sheet totaled over 10 million gold marks.