Robert Wilmers, chairman and CEO of M&T Bank, dies at 83

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Robert Wilmers, chairman and CEO of Buffalo–based M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB), died Saturday night at the age of 83.

Wilmers had held both positions since May 1983, the bank said in a news release posted Sunday on its website. 

During his 34 years of leadership, M&T’s assets grew from $2 billion in 1983 to the current asset total of more than $120 billion, according to the news release.

Under Wilmers’ leadership, M&T completed 24 acquisitions, and grew from 51 branches in one state to 783 branches in eight states plus the District of Columbia and from 2,000 employees to nearly 17,000, the banking company said. 

Of the largest 100 banks operating in 1983, only 23 remain today and, among those, M&T ranks 1st in stock-price growth, according to the bank’s news release.

Under the banking company’s succession plan, M&T’s board of directors named lead outside director Robert Brady, former chairman and CEO of Moog, Inc. (NYSE: MOAG.A), as M&T’s non-executive chairman, “effective immediately.”

Moog is headquartered in Elma, just south of Buffalo. 

M&T’s three vice chairmen — Richard Gold, René Jones and Kevin Pearson — “maintain responsibility” for the bank’s day-to-day operations.

“Bob Wilmers’ accomplishments as chairman and CEO of M&T Bank are surpassed only by his commitment to our community, and every day he worked to fulfill his belief that the bank can only do well if the communities it serves do well,” Brady said in the M&T Bank news release.  “He will be missed greatly … by his beloved family, by the colleagues whom he respected so deeply, by his incredibly broad network of dear friends, and by all of our neighbors in M&T’s communities.  Nonetheless, his legacy will live on.  The management team he built at M&T is long-tenured and deeply committed to Bob Wilmers’ conservative, consistent, community-focused banking philosophy, and they will carry on that legacy, continuing to build M&T as a strong, successful and independent bank.”

Additional reaction

Beth Mooney, chair & CEO of Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), said she is “deeply saddened” to learn of Wilmers’ passing.

“I knew Bob as a banking legend, colleague and competitor, but also as a friend. M&T’s clients, employees and shareholders benefitted from his leadership and steady guidance. The communities the bank serves, especially Buffalo … were fortunate to have someone with Bob’s vision, values and commitment. My KeyBank colleagues and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Wilmers family,” Mooney said in a statement that KeyCorp, the parent company of KeyBank, released Sunday.

The M&T Bank news release also included a reaction from a well known shareholder.

“He was a remarkable banker, an even more remarkable citizen and a wonderful friend,” Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and longtime M&T shareholder, said in the news release.

The office of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) also released a statement from the lawmaker.

“There have been very few men who have done as much for Buffalo since its founding hundreds of years ago, as Bob Wilmers has done for several decades. He was a brilliant banker and a thoroughly decent, caring man. My wife Iris and I have spent many happy hours together with Bob and his wife. The loss is the Wilmer’s family, Buffalo’s and the United States of America,” said Schumer.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com