Who Owns Bank of America?

By Robin Hartill, CFP – Updated Dec 30, 2025 at 12:55 PM EST | Fact-checked by Parker Hicks

Key Points

Bank of America, as a publicly traded entity, is primarily owned by institutional investors with a 69% share.
CEO Brian Moynihan holds 2.75 million shares, while Vanguard and Berkshire Hathaway are top institutional shareholders.
Shares can be bought via brokerage accounts, with options for direct purchase or through ETFs like S&P 500 funds.
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If you're interested in the financial sector, you may have wondered who owns Bank of America (BAC +0.78%). Like any publicly traded company, Bank of America is owned by its shareholders. The Charlotte-based financial institution is the second-largest bank in the U.S., with roughly $4.3 trillion in assets at the end of 2024, second only to JPMorgan Chase (JPM +2.18%).

Bank of America offers virtually every banking product imaginable, including bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and loans. Amid the financial crisis in 2008, it also acquired investment firm Merrill Lynch and is most commonly referred to now as "Merrill."

Institutional investors own roughly 67% of Bank of America's shares, while insiders own about 8%. Let's dive in and learn more about who owns Bank of America, as well as who sits on its board of directors.

Who is the owner of Bank of America?

Bank of America was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Peter Giannini, the son of Italian immigrants. In 1927, Giannini had unified several local banks around the state of California under the name the Bank of America of California.

By 1930, he merged the original Bank of Italy and the Bank of America of California to create the Bank of America we know Today. When Giannini died in 1949, the bank had grown to more than 500 branches and $6 billion in assets.

Today, it's a publicly traded company, which means anyone with a brokerage account can invest in Bank of America stock. However, several institutions and some high-net-worth individuals hold large stakes in the institution. Interesting fact: The bank still has the same charter number as Giannini's original bank: No. 13044.

The inside of a Bank of America location. — Image source: Bank of America.

Who are the largest shareholders?

Institutional investors and insiders own roughly 69% of Bank of America's outstanding 5.23 billion shares. The largest shareholders of the bank's stock are:

Individual investors

Brian Moynihan: As CEO, Moynihan owns about 2.75 million shares of Bank of America. That may sound like a lot, but it's only 0.03% of the company's outstanding shares. Moynihan earned $35 million in 2024, a 21% rise in compensation when compared to 2023. His base salary was $1.5 million, and the remaining $33.5 million was in stock compensation.
Paul Donofrio: Donofrio serves as a vice chair and owns more than 1.1 million shares. Donofrio joined the bank in 1999 and served as its CFO from 2015 to 2021.
Bruce Thompson: Thompson is vice chair, head of enterprise credit, and owns over 989,000 Bank of America shares. He joined the bank in 1996 and served in numerous roles, including four years as CFO from 2011 to 2015.
Thong Nguyen: Nguyen is vice chairman and head of global strategy and enterprise platform at Bank of America. He joined the company in 2003 and, as of 2025, owns 1.01 million of the bank's shares.
Dean Athanasia: Athanasia is the bank's president of regional banking and has held various roles since joining the bank in 1996. He owns more than 573,000 Bank of America shares.

Institutional investors

Vanguard Group: A leader in low-cost index funds, Vanguard -- a registered investment advisor headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania -- owns about 641 million shares of Bank of America, representing an 8.66% stake. The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTI -0.75%), the Vanguard Institutional 500 Index Fund (VFFSX +0.54%), and the Vanguard Value Index Fund (VVIAX +0.83%) own the company's three largest stakes in the stock.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A +1.47%)(BRK.B +1.32%): Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the largest Bank of America shareholder, with roughly 632 million shares amounting to an 8.5% stake. This represents a drop in total holdings after Buffett sold 39% of his stake in Bank of America. As of August 2025, it was the fourth-largest of Warren Buffett's stock holdings, with his current leader being Apple (AAPL -0.13%).
BlackRock (BLK -4.35%): Based in New York City, publicly traded BlackRock is the world's largest institutional money manager and the owner of iShares exchange-traded funds. BlackRock owns over 532.7 million Bank of America shares, or 7.2% of its outstanding common stock. It's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV -0.85%) owns about 0.57% of Bank of America's shares.
State Street (STT -1.83%): Boston-based financial services company and custodial bank State Street owns more than 295 million Bank of America shares, or about 3.9% of the company. Its SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY -0.83%), the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in history, owns just over 79 million shares.
Fidelity Management & Research: Boston-based Fidelity, a privately held financial services firm, owns more than 203 million Bank of America shares, representing a stake of almost 2.75%. More than 83.5 million of those shares are owned by its Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAI.X +0.54%).

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People sitting at a table and talking with one another in a boardroom. — Image source: Getty Images.

Who is on the board of directors for Bank of America?

Brian Moynihan: Moynihan has been CEO and chair of Bank of America's board since 2010. He holds a law degree from the University of Notre Dame and served in various roles at Fleet Boston Bank. He joined Bank of America after the banks merged in 2004.

Lionel Nowell III: Nowell is the lead independent director of Bank of America and has been on the board since 2013. He is the former senior vice president and treasurer of PepsiCo (PEP +4.93%).

Sharon Allen: Allen has been a Bank of America director since 2012. She had a 40-year career at Deloitte, one of the Big Four in accounting, and was the first woman to chair its board.

Jose "Joe" Almeida: Almeida is chairman, president, and CEO of American multinational healthcare company Baxter International (BAX +0.20%). He has been a Bank of America board member since 2022.

Pierre de Weck: de Weck is a Swiss national who was chairman and global head of private wealth management for Deutsche Bank AG. He joined Bank of America's board in 2013.

Arnold Donald: Donald is the former president and CEO of Carnival (CCL -1.57%) cruise line. He has served on Bank of America's board since 2013.

Linda Hudson: Hudson is the former president and CEO of aerospace defense and security company BAE Systems Inc. and the former chair and CEO of business consulting firm The Cardea Group Inc. She's been a Bank of America director since 2012.

Monica Lozano: Lozano spent 30 years at La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the U.S., including roles as editor and publisher. She was also chair and CEO of its parent company, ImpreMedia LLC, and a director for both Apple and Target (TGT +1.61%). Lozano joined Bank of America's board in 2006.

Maria Martinez: Martinez is a former executive officer working across industries, with her most notable roles being in leadership positions at Cisco Systems, Salesforce Inc., and Microsoft. She joined Bank of America's board of directors in January 2025 as one of the newest members.

Denise Ramos: Ramos was previously president and CEO of manufacturing company ITT (ITT +0.03%). She became a Bank of America board member in 2019.

Clayton Rose: Rose spent 20 years at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor company, serving as vice chairman. He is a former president of Bowdoin College and is now a faculty member at Harvard Business School. He's been on Bank of America's board since 2018.

Michael White: White's past roles include serving as chairman, president, and CEO of DirecTV and CEO of PepsiCo International. He joined Bank of America's board in 2016.

Thomas Woods: Woods is a past vice chairman and senior executive vice president for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CBC). He has served as a Bank of America director since 2016.

Maria Zuber: Zuber is vice president of research and a geophysics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is the first woman to lead a science department at MIT and the first woman to lead a NASA planetary mission. She joined Bank of America's board in 2017.

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FAQ

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About the Author

Robin Hartill, CFP, is a contributing writer at The Motley Fool. Robin’s work has also been published by Yahoo Finance, USA Today, and Penny Hoarder. She is a graduate of the University of Florida.

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Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Robin Hartill, CFP has positions in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, ITT, JPMorgan Chase, Target, and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. The Motley Fool recommends BlackRock and Carnival Corp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.