If you're interested in the financial sector, you may have wondered who owns Bank of America (BAC -0.74%). Like any publicly traded company, Bank of America is owned by its shareholders. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based financial institution is the second-largest bank in the U.S., with roughly $2.45 trillion in assets at the end of 2023, second only to JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.11%).
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.
Institutional investors own roughly 59% of Bank of America's shares, while insiders own about 13%. Keep reading to learn more about who owns Bank of America, as well as who sits on its board of directors.
Who's the owner?
Who is the owner of Bank of America?
Bank of America was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Peter Giannini, the son of Italian immigrants. He originally called it the Bank of Italy in San Francisco and lent money mostly to his Italian neighbors at a time when most banks would only extend their services to big businesses and the ultra-wealthy.
After a massive earthquake devastated San Francisco in 1906, Giannini offered "handshake" loans to customers who would help the city rebuild.
In 1930, he changed the bank's name to Bank of America. When Giannini died in 1949, the bank had grown to more than 500 branches and $6 billion in assets.
Today, Bank of America is a publicly traded company, which means anyone with a brokerage account can invest in the stock. However, several institutions and individuals hold large stakes in the institution. But the bank still has the same charter number as Giannini's original bank: No. 13044.
Largest shareholders
Who are the largest shareholders?
Institutional investors and insiders own roughly 70% of Bank of America's outstanding 7.89 billion shares. The largest shareholders of the bank stock are:
Individual investors
- Brian Moynihan: As CEO, Moynihan owns about 2.65 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 $29 million in 2023. His base salary was $1.5 million, and the remaining $27.5 million was in stock compensation.
- Paul Donofrio: Donofrio serves as a vice chair and owns more than 1.09 million of its 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 880,000 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 owns almost 585,000 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 442,000 Bank of America shares.
Institutional investors
- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.23%)(BRK.B -0.28%): Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the largest Bank of America shareholder, with 1.03 billion shares amounting to a 13% stake. As of March 2024, it was the second-largest of Warren Buffett's stock holdings after Apple (AAPL 2.48%), worth almost $37 billion.
- Vanguard Group: A leader in low-cost index funds, Vanguard -- a registered investment advisor headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania -- owns about 608 million shares of Bank of America, representing a 7.7% stake. The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTI 0.39%), the Vanguard Institutional 500 Index Fund (NASDAQMUTFUND:VFFSX), and the Vanguard Value Index Fund (VVIAX -0.05%) own the company's three largest stakes in the stock.
- BlackRock (BLK -0.21%): 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 491 million Bank of America shares, or 6.2% of its outstanding common stock. Its iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV 0.36%) owns about 0.9% of Bank of America's shares.
- State Street (STT 0.82%): Boston-based financial services company and custodial bank State Street owns more than 290 million Bank of America shares, or about 3.7% of the company. Its SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY 0.35%), the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in history, owns almost 81 million shares, about 1% of Bank of America's stock.
- Fidelity Management & Research: Boston-based Fidelity, a privately held financial services firm, owns more than 187 million Bank of America shares, representing a stake of almost 2.4%. More than 82 million of those shares are owned by its Fidelity 500 Index Fund (NASDAQMUTUALFUND:FXAI.X), roughly 1% of Bank of America's common stock.
Board of directors
Who is on the board of directors for Bank of America?
The following 13 individuals sit on Bank of America's board of directors:
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 0.32%).
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 1.27%). 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 0.33%) 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 -0.61%). Lozano joined Bank of America's board in 2006.
Denise Ramos: Ramos was previously president and CEO of manufacturing company ITT (ITT 1.05%). 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.
Related investing topics
How to invest
How to invest in Bank of America
Because it's a publicly traded company, anyone with a brokerage account can invest in Bank of America stock. Once you've opened and funded the account, you'll need to enter its ticker, BAC. Indicate how many shares you want and whether you want to place a market order or limit order, then place your order.
But do your homework first. Make sure you understand the pros and cons of investing in bank stocks before you put money into the company. For instance, bank stocks tend to be cyclical, meaning they usually perform well in good times but poorly in a recession, when consumers pull back on spending and are more likely to default on loans.
It's also possible to get Bank of America exposure by investing money in an ETF. You could invest your money in a fund that focuses exclusively on financial stocks, but you'd also get exposure by investing in a fund that tracks the overall stock market, like an S&P 500 fund.
FAQ
Who owns Bank of America: FAQ
Who owns the majority of Bank of America?
Bank of America is a publicly held company owned by shareholders. Institutional investors own about 59% of its shares. The largest shareholder is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which owns about 13% of the shares.
Is Bank of America still owned by the government?
The government became part-owner of Bank of America in the wake of the financial crisis when the Treasury purchased about $20 billion of its shares as part of a $45 billion bailout. Bank of America repurchased those shares in late 2009.
How much of Bank of America does China own?
China doesn't own part of Bank of America. However, the U.S. bank owned a stake in China Construction Bank Corp., which it sold in 2013.
Who bought Bank of America?
Nations Bank paid about $62 billion of its stock in a deal to merge with BankAmerica Corp. in 1998, forming Bank of America. The deal created what was then the largest bank in the U.S., with almost $525 billion in assets.
