Steve Jagler, executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee, writes in today’s Biz Blog:
“In the spring of 1847, Samuel Marshall arrived in Milwaukee in a two-horse stagecoach with several thousand dollars, a few years of business experience and a dream for the young city of Milwaukee. At the time, Wisconsin was still one year away from becoming a state. Marshall rented half of a cobbler shop and, on April 21, 1847, opened the doors of ‘Samuel Marshall & Co., Exchange Brokers.’ In 1849, he was joined by Charles Ilsley. Together, they set out to build one of Wisconsin’s premier financial institutions – Marshall & Ilsley Corporation.”
So says the “history” page of the web site of the Milwaukee-based parent company of M&I Bank.
Fast forward to April 2007, and Marshall & Ilsley was flying high. The company was reporting record quarterly earnings, and its stock was trading at more than $38 per share.
Little did we know then that the real estate bubble was about to burst, the Great Recession was about to slam the economy and M&I, holding hundreds of millions of dollars in doomed mortgages in Florida and Arizona, would soon crumble.
M&I could not stop the hemorrhaging, losing more than $2 billion in 2008, $758.6 million in 2009 and $515.9 million in 2010.
In its final full quarter as an independent company, the company recently reported a first quarter 2011 net loss of $142.0 million, or 27 cents per share.
M&I entered into a definitive agreement on Dec. 17, 2010, in which all of its outstanding shares of common stock will be acquired by BMO Financial Group of Canada.
BMO will terminate the M&I brand, and Wisconsin’s largest bank will be folded into BMO Harris Bank.
The death of the M&I brand and the loss of a corporate headquarters are nothing short of Milwaukee tragedies. Shareholders are angry. Hundreds of employees are losing their jobs.
Read more in today’s Biz Blog on the home page of BizTimes Milwaukee.
