Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks

The Charlotte Observer's financial reporter, Rick Rothacker, dives behind the headlines to reveal an up-close, ground-zero account of what really happened with two of the nation's big banks

"Big banks step up rivalry, one-upmanship or coincidence?"-Charlotte Observer, Mar. 13, 1989

"No. 2 banking city: right here, folks,"-Charlotte Observer, Nov. 25, 1997

"Secret meetings, taut nerves,"-Charlotte Observer, Apr. 22, 2001

"SunTrust enters bid to take over Wachovia,"-Charlotte Observer, May 15, 2001

"How toxic is your mortgage?"-BusinessWeek, Sept. 11, 2006

"Fed chairman vows to curb mortgage abuses,"-Associated Press, July 20, 2007

"The Weekend That Wall Street Died,"-Wall Street Journal, Dec. 29, 2008

"CNBC's Jim Cramer Interviews Wachovia President & CEO Robert Steel,"-CNBC.com, Sept. 15, 2008

"Talks Implode During a Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved,"-Newyorktimes.com, Sept 25, 2008

"Competitors seek profit from Wachovia's woes,"-News & Observer (Raleigh), Oct 17, 2009

"Merrill Lynch CEOs over banking 'mess',"-Charlotte Observer, Feb 12, 2009

"Bank of America Executive Under Scrutiny,"-New York Times, Dec. 7, 2009

On September 15, 2008 Wachovia CEO Bob Steel strode onto the set of Jim Cramer's Mad Money and assured his country and shareholders of a "great future" for one of the nation's largest banks. That same day, fellow Charlotte titan Bank of America announced a deal to buy Merrill Lynch and the expertise of its "thundering herd" of brokers.

Just weeks after that, Wells Fargo purchased Mitering Wachovia, ending Bob Steers turn' around attempt.

And three months later, Bank of America told the government it might try to escape the Merrill Lynch deal.

Events unfolded at whiplash speed during America's financial meltdown, and Charlotte's banks were at the center. Employees at Wachoviaùonce a standard of conservative bankingùsuddenly found themselves at the wrong end of a takeover. And Bank of America, on a relentlessly upward trajectory since the days of legendary CEO Hugh McColl, Jr., may have finally bitten off more than it could chew.

Stock prices collapsed.

Fortunes and retirement nest eggs evaporated. The nation's second biggest banking center faced a crisis.

Banktown is a tale of triumph and tragedy at Charlotte's big banks, told with the ground-zero insights of award-winning Charlotte Observer business reporter Rick Rothacker. Featuring a cast of ambitious CEOs, brash traders, and powerful government officials and humanized by accounts of sleep-deprived bankers analyzing multibillion-dollar deals in record time and borrowers belatedly realizing their adjustable-rate mortgages left them owing more after their monthly payments than before, this is the definitive account of how the financial crisis bruised the economy and the pride of one of the New South's brightest skylines.

Rick Rothacker, a Charlotte Observer reporter since 1998, began covering banking in 2001. He received the Gerald Loeb Award for beat writing in 2009 for his coverage of Wachovia and has won awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the North Carolina Press Association. He previously covered Congress and the Pentagon for Legi-Slate News Service in Washington and interned at the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Pennsylvania native holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons.