Vernon W. Hill II (born August 18, 1945) is the founder and former chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Commerce Bancorp and Commerce Bank of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He is credited as a founder of a new style of retail banking that relies on service rather than interest rates to attract customer and deposits.
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Hill also owns several Burger King franchises and is a partner in Interstate Commercial, formerly Site Development Inc. and several other holding and development enterprises. He earned a BS in economics with a concentration in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1967.
Hill's 46,000 ft² (4,270 m²) mansion Villa Collina — Italian for "Hill House" — the largest private residence in New Jersey, is located in Moorestown Township, New Jersey.[1] He resides there with wife Shirley Hill, owner of the InterArch design firm and their dog.
Hill founded and helped design one of the top golf courses in the USA, Galloway National Golf Club in Galloway Township, New Jersey.
In 2005, Vernon and his wife, Shirley Hill, donated $10 million dollars for a new building at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Vernon's alma mater. The building is called the Vernon and Shirley Hill Pavilion.[2]
In 2003, he was named to the PoliticsPA "Power 50" list of politically influential individuals, saying that he "heads one of Pennsylvania's fastest growing banks, and more importantly, gets the game when it comes to politics- earning a spot on the list. Hill plays to both Republicans and Democrats, and gets what he wants."[3]
Hill founded Commerce Bancorp in 1973, basing its business model on that of the Burger King restaurants that he had once owned. Commerce Bank became one of the fastest-growing banks in the country.
Hill earned $54.2-million (U.S.) in salary, bonus, and profit from stock options from 2002 to 2006, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
On June 29, 2007, Hill was forced to resign as Chairman and CEO of Commerce Bancorp after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the board of directors of Commerce Bancorp established governance to stop doing business with firms under the control of his family. Notable business dealings with insiders included property leases with entities in which Hill was a partner, and the purchase of services from an architectural design business run by his wife, Shirley.[1]
The company appointed three executives to replace Hill, naming Dennis DiFlorio chairman, Robert Falese president and CEO, and Douglas Pauls Chief Financial Officer.
On October 2, 2007, Commerce Bancorp announced that it would be merging with TD Bank Financial Group. The Canadian-based Toronto-Dominion Bank would acquire Commerce for $8.5 billion (U.S. dollars) in cash and stock, at $35 per share of CBH stock. Some people suggested that Hill's departure, as well as a strong Canadian dollar, had made a takeover inevitable. [2]
On November 27, 2007 Vernon Hill announced that he is teaming up with veteran analyst Gary B. Townsend on the venture, to be called Hill-Townsend Capital. The firm, which will be based in Chevy Chase, Md., will invest in the financial services sector, particularly in mid-cap bank stocks with assets of about $1 billion to $10 billion. Hill-Townsend will "concentrate on long-horizon investment in companies with superior, easily understood business models, run by passionate, dedicated management teams," a news release said.
On July 29, 2010, the first branch of Metro Bank, the first high-street bank to open in the United Kingdom for more than 100 years, opened in Holborn, London. Vernon Hill is a co-founder, alongside chairman Anthony Thomson.[4]