Loading
How many people can say they've had the same career for 50 years?
Now, imagine that career was in banking, where financial crises wipe out a generation of executives every decade. But you can count Bill Valenti as one of the few survivors.
Most recently, Valenti engineered the sale of Fort Myers-based Florida Gulf Bank, where he was president and CEO, to IberiaBank in 2012 for 1.4 times book value. At the time, the value of the deal was considered rich given the number of banks in the region that were wiped out by the real estate collapse.
“Before the banking crisis I was 6 feet tall, I weighed 210 pounds and I had all my hair,” jokes Valenti, who will turn 70 later this year.
Valenti says banks must grow larger to manage the increasing regulatory burdens and changing customer expectations. “The term community bank will have to change,” he says.
For now, Valenti says he has no plans other than to travel to Italy for leisure and to Colorado to visit family. He has been named vice chairman of IberiaBank's advisory board for Lee County.
His last day at IberiaBank will be April 30, when he will hand over the reins to David Gordley, the newly appointed Southwest Florida market president for IberiaBank and current Collier County market president.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
