PERSONNEL: Man of Action

The biggest U.S. bank last week got a new president. To succeed the late Lawrence Mario (“L.M.”) Giannini, the Bank of America picked Carl Frederick Wente, 63, a director and, until his retirement three years ago, the bank’s senior vice president. A protege of Founder Amadeo Peter (“A.P.”) Giannini, Wente is the first outsider to boss the bank’s 535 branches, and more than $7.5 billion resources. Also named last week to the executive committee: A.P.’s daughter, Claire Giannini Hoffman, previously a director.

Wente, as gusty and hustling as Founder Giannini, is the son of an immigrant farmer. He grew up in California’s Livermore Valley, left high school after two years to become a messenger in Oakland’s Central Bank.*Just 30 years later, he was named Central Bank president after bossing branch banks in Madera, Visalia, Fresno, Modesto and Stockton. As a smalltown banker, much of his time was spent on horseback, riding with the ranchers, digging up business, just as young A.P. used to tramp the furrows behind plowing farmers. A deep-voiced six-footer who talks the farmer’s language, Wente’s most frequent injunction to underlings is “Give ’em action! No monkeying around . . .” That was the kind of language the directors liked; they called him back as president from semiretirement.

Back in harness last week, Wente was still giving ’em action; The staff of an eastern industrialist, sent out to negotiate a loan, expected to stay two weeks. “They arrived at the bank at 11 a.m.,” said Wente, “and we had made them the loan by 3 that afternoon. They left that night.”

Wente, who reaches the bank’s retirement age of 65 in 18 months, says: “My biggest job will be to pick a successor.”