Robert George "Bob" Wilmers (April 20, 1934 – December 16, 2017) was an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

banker. He was the chairman and CEO of

M&T Bank M&T Bank Corporation (Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company) is an American bank holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. It operates 950+ branches in 12 states and Washington D.C. across the Eastern United States, from Maine to Vi ...

from 1983 until his death in 2017, except for an 18-month break in 2005 - 2006.Joe Nocera
The Good Banker
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', May 30, 2011

Early life and education

Robert George Wilmers was born in New York on April 20, 1934, as one of three children to Charles Wilmers, an executive with the Belgium utility holding company,

Sofina Sofina, ''Société Financière de Transports et d'Entreprises Industrielles'', is a Belgian holding company, headquartered in Brussels with offices in Singapore and Luxembourg. As part of the Bel20 index, it is one of the twenty largest cap ...

, who would eventually become its president, and his wife Cecilia. He grew up in New York City and Belgium. His sister

Mary-Kay Wilmers Mary-Kay Wilmers, Hon. FRSL (born 19 July 1938) is an American editor and journalist. She was the editor of the ''London Review of Books'' from 1992Brooks, Richard"''London Review of Books'' £27m in the red – but it isn’t counting" ''The T ...

is the editor of the

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

, the well-known literary journal. He graduated from the

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

and

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

(1956), and attended the

Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

He started his career at

Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...

Co. in 1962, served in New York City government under mayor

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regu ...

as a financial official in the 1960s, then went on to work at

Morgan Guaranty Trust Company J.P. Morgan & Co. is an American financial institution specialized in investment banking, asset management and private banking founded by financier J. P. Morgan in 1871. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company is now a subsidi ...

. 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 The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

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 Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...

(1988),

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

(1991) and the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 a ...

(2004). He was cited by

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, th ...

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 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
A Throwback Approach Keeps Wilmers, M&T on Top
''

American Banker ''American Banker'' is a New York-based trade publication covering the financial services industry. Originally a daily newspaper, the print edition ceased publication in 2016, but continues to be published as a print magazine nine times a year. ...

'', November 30, 2011 He purchased Chateau Haut-Bailly, a winery in

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, in 1998. He served as chairman of the

Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...

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 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

from 1993 to 1998. In 2011, he was named "banker of the year" by ''

''. In 2016, together with several partners, he purchased a group of newspapers in western New England, including ''

The Berkshire Eagle ''The Berkshire Eagle'' is an American daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and covering all of Berkshire County, as well as four New York communities near Pittsfield. It is considered a newspaper of record for Berkshire Coun ...

'' of Pittsfield, MA. In January 2017, the rising value of bank stocks meant that Wilmers had become a billionaire.

Personal life and death

His widow Elisabeth Wilmers is French, and they owned

Château Haut-Bailly Château Haut-Bailly is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan Appellation d'origine contrôlée, appellation, ranked among the ''Crus Classés'' for red wine in the Classification of Graves wine of 1953 and 1959. The winery and vineyards are lo ...

from 1998 until his death, as well as the nearby property Château Le Pape from 2012 onwards. Wilmers died at his home in New York City on December 16, 2017. The cause of death was a heart attack while recovering from a recent surgery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmers, Robert 1934 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American billionaires Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York Harvard Business School alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni American bankers American chief executives of financial services companies Harvard College alumni