SunTrust history

The first statement in 1892 reported assets of $36,048.17.

In November 1893, it restructured as a trust company and renamed itself Trust Company of Georgia.

The firm was founded as a municipal bond shop by Roby Robinson in 1894.

Robinson and William G. Humphrey, a bond trader from Toledo, Ohio, eventually incorporated The Robinson-Humphrey Co. in 1902.

Ernest Woodruff, a native of Columbus, assumed the presidency of the Trust Company in February 1904.

In 1910 he arranged the merger, for $3.5 million, of several small regional coal and ice companies to form the Atlantic Ice and Coal Company, which was the largest underwriting venture in Georgia history to that point.

Later on, a bank was formed out of the Trust company of Georgia emerged a bank that was named The People's national bank in 1911.

Trust Company of Georgia, the oldest progenitor of SunTrust, was rebuffed in an effort to buy Robinson-Humphrey in 1917.

In 1920, it became the First National Bank.

Though Woodruff left his position as bank president in 1922, the link between Trust Company and Coke was formed.

Robert W. Woodruff became president of both the Trust Company of Georgia and the Coca-Cola Company in 1923 and eventually became the architect of Coke's worldwide expansion.

In 1926 the Trust Company acquired the Continental Gin Company.

In 1933, ties with First National ended and TCG emerged as a full-service commercial bank.

As of December 31, 1973, it had three bank-related subsidiaries and total assets of $1.713 billion. It was reorganized on Valentine's Day 1934 as the First National Bank at Orlando.

In 1937 he established the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, a charitable organization.

In 1952, TCG became the first inland bank in the Southeast to form an International Department.

The following year his son, Robert Woodruff, became the president of Coca-Cola, a position he held until 1955.

Throughout the 60's, the company continued to grow and in 1970, total assets passed the $1 billion mark.

In 1971, the communicative name, ‘Trust Company Bank" was adopted for Atlanta banking activities and the big blue ‘T"-mark was introduced.

As of December 31, 1973, it had three bank-related subsidiaries and total assets of $1.713 billion.

The name "Trust Company Mortgage" was adopted in 1980.

In 1982, Martin sold Robinson-Humphrey to American Express, which was then run by another Atlanta deal maker and fellow Georgia Tech grad, James Robinson (no relation to Roby Robinson). Under AmEx, the firm operated as part of Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc.

In May 1983, Sun announced a deal for Miami-based Flagship Bank Inc., with $3.3 billion in assets, that positioned Sun to be one of the Florida's largest bank holding companies.

On July 2, 1984, plans were announced to combine TCG and Orlando, Fla.-based Sun Banks, Inc., to create SunTrust Banks, Inc.

In 1985, SunTrust also acquired two banks with total assets of $130 million.

The year 1986 was also pivotal in that it saw the formation of the subsidiary SunTrust Securities.

1987: SunTrust posts the highest earnings in the industry for the first half of the year and is called the "Top Performing Regional Bank Holding Company" of the year by American Banker.

1988: Acquires two Florida trust subsidiaries of Mellon Bank Corp.

The company had obtained stock in Columbia Pictures Entertainment during Coke's short-lived ownership of that entertainment company, and in 1989 SunTrust realized a $10 million windfall from the sale of Columbia common stock.

With the approaching retirement of its first chairman, Bob Strickland, the company in 1990 instituted a plan of succession.

Joel Wells became chairman and James B. "Jimmy" Williams became president and CEO. In 1991 Williams became chairman while remaining CEO, and Phil Humann was named to the position of president.

In Florida, moreover, where a number of local bankers took pride in the fact that the 1992 devastation wrought by Hurricane Andrew had not presented a major setback to SunBanks, the sun was finally setting.

Furthermore, in the four years since 1993, SunTrust had bought back more than 39 million of its own shares at a cost in excess of $1 billion and had plans to buy more of the 216 million shares still outstanding.

Also in 1994, the company formed SunTrust Capital Markets and inaugurated a series of growth initiatives to increase revenue and core earnings.

SunTrust's Georgia subsidiary in 1995 entered into an agreement with Publix Super Markets to offer in-store banking facilities throughout the state.

Noting that James B. Williams sat on the Coca-Cola board and that Coke chairman Roberto Goizueta (who died in the summer of 1997) sat on the SunTrust board, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution in June 1997 profiled the strong bond between the bank and the soft-drink maker.

On March 21, 1998, Williams retired and President Phillip Humann assumed his role as chairman and CEO, but the Journal and Constitution predicted no significant change of direction.

In the end SunTrust was unable to prevent the proposed merger, and shareholders at Wachovia voted in early August 2001 to accept the First Union bid.

2003: SunTrust acquires Lighthouse Financial Services Inc., which expands the company's presence into Hilton Head Island, S.C.

SunTrust and Memphis-based National Commerce Financial Corporation announce plans to merge on May 9, 2004, creating a financial services franchise with more than 1,700 full service offices in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

2005: SunTrust Securities and Alexander Key combine to form SunTrust Investment Services, a full-service broker affiliate.

The merger happened in 2007, but the Bank of New York is the oldest continuously operating bank in America.

Subsequent to the subprime meltdown in 2008, the activities of the shadow banking system came under increasing scrutiny and regulations.

In 2012, the company books a $1.9 billion gain as it sells 59 million of the remaining 60 million shares it owns in The Coca-Cola Company, while transferring one million shares to the SunTrust Foundation.

2013: SunTrust opens corporate banking offices in Dallas, San Francisco and Chicago.

On September 16, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced the name of their new Cobb County stadium: SunTrust Park.

In 2015, The SunTrust Foundation provided $14.1 million to more than 1,500 organizations, and SunTrust teammates and retirees pledged more than $6.3 million to the United Way.

In 2016, the company announced the acquisition of the assets of Pillar and Cohen Financial, LLC., a leading Agency multi-family lender.

SunTrust Park, which opened for the 2017 season as their new new home.

On February 7, 2019, SunTrust and BB&T announced plans to combine in a merger of equals creating the sixth-largest United States bank holding company with 275 years of combined history and a culture serving clients and communities in high-growth markets.

The name SunTrust Park was used until the 2020 season when it was renamed Truist Park.