HERBERT FLEISHHACKER

San Francisco County

Biographies

HERBERT FLEISHHACKER

FLEISHHACKER, HERBERT, Banker, San Francisco, California, was born in that city November 2, 1872, the son of Aron Fleishhacker and Delia (Stern) Fleishhacker. He is of German-American descent on both sides of his family and is a combination of the sturdy and energetic characteristics of his race. He married Miss May Belle Greenbaum at San Francisco on August 9, 1905, and is the father of two children, Marjorie and Herbert Fleishhacker, Jr.

The schooling of Mr. Fleishhacker, in view of his later achievements, may be described as scant. It consisted of eight years, between 1878 and 1886, in the grammar schools in his native city and less than one year in Heald’s Business College. With the commercial training he received in the latter institution he hastened to go into business.

In 1887 he entered his father’s paper business as a bookkeeper and remained in this capacity for about a year and a half. He then tried the manufacturing end of it, on which he got a sufficient grip in the next four years to enable him to go on the road as a salesman for the house. His success in this direction was rapid and pronounced, but not fast enough to keep pace with his expanding ideas. These were naturally enlarged by his travels and growing ambitions, which were continually on the watch for new fields wherein to cultivate the knowledge he had already acquired. The organization of new enterprises became the logical outlet for his abundant energies, and Oregon seemed to him at the time the surest thing in promised lands; so in Oregon City he established the first paper mills in that part of the world. Later on he organized a large lumber company near Eugene, in the same State, and then shifted the scene of his endeavors to his native State. Here he started the dynamos going for the Electric Power Company of Floriston, California, and subsequently organized other power concerns in various parts of this State, gradually enlarging his operations until he had more than a dozen power and manufacturing plants in full swing.

Mr. Fleishhacker’s financial talents, however, seemed predestined to seek their most proper channel, and to find it in the banking business. In 1907 he signalized his arrival in that center of the financial world by becoming manager of the London, Paris and American Bank, already a solidly established house. The same remarkable vitality he had infused in every other enterprise he had grasped was soon imparted to this and marked by a steady growth. Even then his name was frequently heard on the street, with flattering emphasis on the term, “Comer.”

On March 1, 1909, the Anglo-California Bank, Ltd., was absorbed by the London, Paris and American and the title changed to the Anglo and London Paris National Bank, with Mr. Fleishhacker as manager and vice president. Two years later, in March, 1911, he was elected to the presidency of the new corporation, which is now in the front rank of American national banks.

An idea of the growth of this institution may be gleaned by this statement, somewhat reluctantly made by Mr. Fleishhacker: When he assumed the management of the London, Paris and American Bank, in the summer of 1907, the deposits were four and a half millions. The absorption of the Anglo-California Bank swelled these to the sum of fifteen millions, and since then, under his management, they have expanded to the great total of twenty-six millions.

The Anglo and London Paris National Bank does a larger foreign exchange business than any other bank in San Francisco. Their connections in the Orient and throughout the European countries are with the largest and strongest banking concerns operating in foreign parts. This is one of the main features of their business, and there is hardly any large transaction with the Orient or the European centers that is not handled through this progressive bank. Its board of directors is composed of men of vast experience and representing the largest financial and commercial interests on the Pacific Coast.

While Mr. Fleishhacker’s position as administrative head of this great financial enterprise takes up the greater portion of his time, it is not the only one he holds. His interests are numerous and varied, and almost every institution in which he is stockholder commands part of his time as officer, director or general adviser. Besides his presidency of the Anglo and London Paris National Bank, he is heavily interested in the Floriston Land and Power Company, a concern of which he is president; the Reno Traction Company, wherein he is also president, and the Anglo California Trust Company, of which he is vice president.

He is also a large owner in and vice president of the following companies: The Central California Traction, the City Electric and the Great Western Power. Additional to these offices, he holds directorships in the Crown-Columbia Pulp and Paper Company, the Floriston Pulp and Paper Company, the Swiss-American Bank and other corporations.

By this list it will be seen that Mr. Fleishhacker is a man of multitudinous responsibilities. The corporations named above are all operating and represent investments of millions. They are among the important industries of California and comprise in their stockholders’ lists many of the most influential and progressive men of that State.

Because of his widely scattered business affiliations, Mr. Fleishhacker has had little opportunity to devote to social affairs, although he holds memberships in several clubs.

Most of his leisure time he devotes to his family, however, their home life being close to the ideal of happiness.

Transcribed by Vicky Walker, 1/25/07.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 649, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.

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