Jim Rohr

James "Jim" E. Rohr (born October 18, 1948) is former Chairman of PNC Financial Services Group (commonly known as PNC Bank) and former CEO. Rohr served as CEO since May 2000 and as Chairman since May 2001, both times taking over for Tom O'Brien.^[1] He is currently chairman of the Carnegie Mellon University Board of Trustees.

Early life

A Cleveland, Ohio native, Rohr graduated from Saint Ignatius High School and from the University of Notre Dame in 1970 with a B.A.. Two years later, in 1972, Rohr earned an MBA degree from Ohio State University. Rohr's wife, Sharon, is from Chagrin Falls.

Professional life

Prior to becoming Chairman & CEO of PNC, Rohr had spent his entire 28-year professional life at PNC-affiliated or predecessor companies. Since becoming CEO, Rohr has been praised for his handling of a major accounting scandal that plagued PNC soon after he assumed leadership of the banking firm. By shifting $762 million in underperforming assets and loans to accounts that were kept off the corporation's balance sheet, PNC was forced to restate its 2001 earnings.^[2]

The first few years in an executive role at PNC were turbulent for Rohr. PNC's stock price lost roughly half of its overall value throughout 2001 and at shareholders' meetings during that time, shareholders began to demand that Rohr resign from his position.^[3]

In the wake of that scandal, Rohr has managed to keep PNC out of more negative scrutiny and boost the performance of PNC's stock. In the first half of 2004, PNC's net income rose 41 percent compared to the same part of 2003.^[2] A year later, in 2005, PNC earned $1.3 billion (or $4.65 per share), the highest annual earnings figure in the corporation's history.^[3]

Also in 2005, Rohr engineered PNC's acquisition of Riggs National Corp., parent company of Riggs National Bank . The acquisition was the beginning of a push into the U.S. Southeast that would see PNC acquire, among other banks, RBC Bank (USA), the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada with a significant presence in the Southeast in 2012.

PNC and Rohr have received high marks for their decision to sell a 49.8 percent stake of the money manager firm BlackRock to Merrill Lynch in 2006. The deal valued PNC's 70 percent stake at $5.6 billion, compared to the $240 million PNC paid for the same stake in 1995.^[3]

Rohr's positive performance as Chairman & CEO has earned him much praise and acclaim, including the 2007 American Banker's Banker of the Year Award.^[4]

At the height of the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, Rohr oversaw PNC's acquisition of struggling National City Corporation. The transaction effectively doubled the size of PNC and briefly made PNC one of the five largest U.S. banks . Two years later, The Banker magazine of London named PNC "Bank of the Year in the U.S." for 2010.

In February 2013, Rohr announced to the PNC board that he wanted to vacate his CEO role after the 2013 annual shareholders meeting and then retire from the company altogether in 2014.^[5]

Rohr was named to the General Electric Co. board of directors in September 2013.^[6]

In April 2014, Rohr vacated his role as Chairman, retiring after 42 years with PNC, including 13 years as CEO.

Compensation

While CEO of PNC Financial Services Group in 2008, James E. Rohr earned a total compensation of $8,549,098, which included a base salary of $1,000,000, no cash bonus, stocks granted of $3,185,000, and options granted of $4,132,000.^[7]

Criticism

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper began running "The Jim Rohr Box." The editorial section bearing Rohr's name chided the PNC Chairman for accepting a $48 million public subsidy to help fund the construction of the new Three PNC Plaza.^[8]

Personal wealth

Forbes magazine's profile of Rohr shows his annual salary at PNC totaling $950,000 with PNC stock options valued at $11.4 million.^[9]

References