William S. Demchak

William S. Demchak (born 1963) is a business executive in the finance industry.

Personal data

Demchak was born and raised and still today, lives in Pittsburgh. He says there is "nowhere else I’d want to raise my family." He is married to Debbie and they have three children.^[1]

Current executive roles

Demchak is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the PNC Financial Services Group. In this capacity he is responsible for all of PNC’s businesses, including corporate and institutional banking, retail banking, mortgage banking and the Asset Management Group.^[2]

He formerly sat on: the Regulatory Management Committee of The Financial Services Roundtable, the Supervisory Board of The Clearing House, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Extra Mile Education Foundation, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, the Young Men’s Christian Association,^[3] the YMCA of Pittsburgh and the Greater Pittsburgh Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the latter of which he in the past, held the role of chairman.

His total calculated compensation for the 2014 fiscal year was $11,337,904.^[4]

Employment history

Before taking on his current leadership role, when Demchak first joined PNC in 2002, it was as Chief Financial Officer. At that time he worked alongside the then CEO, Jim Rohr. Three years later, he was promoted to head of the company’s Corporate & Institutional Banking, in charge of PNC's middle market and large corporate businesses, capital markets, real estate finance, equity management and leasing. In 2009, Demchak became Senior Vice Chairman. A few months later, he received the additional title – and responsibilities associated with it – of Head of PNC Businesses.

Before PNC, Demchak held a variety of key executive positions at JP Morgan Chase. This includes: Global Head of Structured Finance and Credit Portfolio, involved in strategic agenda (before the JP Morgan-Chase Manhattan merger), member of the Board of Directors. He says JPMorgan Chase “wasn’t a terribly enjoyable place to work.”^[5] He was also a Director of Hilliard Lyons Research Advisors.

Education

Demchak has a Bachelor of Science from Allegheny College and an MBA (with an emphasis in accounting) from the University of Michigan.^[6] At Allegheny, he was an Alden Scholar, actively participating in student government, the economics club, the Interfraternity Council, intramural sports, and Lacrosse. In addition, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity as well as the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.^[7]

Philosophy

According to Demchak, one key ingredient to becoming a successful leader is to believe you can always be better. He advises potential leaders to: “learn from your failures, surround yourself with people who will challenge you. Ensure your vision is shared ‘clearly and often’ with your team. Remain grounded in your values so that you never forget who you serve or why you come to work.”

Of this specific work he has done and continues to do at PNC he says: “Unlike every bank in our position in history we’re not going to jump into capital markets.”^[8]

Acclaim

According to Blythe Masters, Head of Global Commodities at JPMorgan Chase who worked with Demchak, “he changed the way the bank and our clients managed credit exposure.” Rohr said his candor “earned him the trust of employees and investors.”^[9] And at the time of his appointment described him as being “well prepared to lead PNC and to execute the winning strategy he helped develop over the past decade. PNC's customers, shareholders, employees and community will benefit from his vision and commitment to serving their needs.”^[10]

Dean of the Tepper School of Business and Professor of Finance, Robert M. Dammon, said “he has earned a high-level of respect throughout the financial community and his leadership has been an example of stability and forward-thinking amidst challenging economic conditions. Since taking office at his current post, he has advanced PNC’s outstanding relationship with our school — furthering cutting-edge research that will help to develop and improve banking services for future consumers.”^[11]

Demchak is also active in humanitarian work: he is a member of Activate Pittsburgh (a campaign against weight gain and poor health), and a founder of a PNC Bank sponsored campaign to support underprivileged children in the area.

References