Kerry Killinger (born June 6, 1949) is an American businessman and author. He is founder and CEO of Crescent Capital Associates, and previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of

Washington Mutual Washington Mutual (often abbreviated to WaMu) was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008. A savings bank holding company is defined in United States Code: Title 12: Banks and Banking; Section 1842: Def ...

from 1990 until 2008. He and his wife Linda co-authored the 2021 book ''Nothing is Too Big to Fail: How the Last Financial Crisis Informs Today''. The book received the Axiom Business Book Awards Bronze Medal, the Nautilus Award for Journalism and Investigative Reporting Silver Medal, and the IPPY award for Finance/Investments/Economics.

Early life and career

Killinger was born in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. He received his education at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, from which he received his BBA in 1970 and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 1971. He began his career in the financial services industry in 1972 as an investment analyst with Bankers Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, and moved on to Murphey Favre in 1976 where he rose from a securities analyst to executive vice president and director.

Philanthropy

Throughout his life, Killinger (with his wife Linda) has supported charitable organizations and higher education institutions in Seattle, Des Moines Iowa, and Palm Desert California. Through the Kerry and Linda Killinger Foundation they are founding sponsors of Cascade Public Media's ''Crosscut Festival'' in Seattle, and a ''Communications and Civility in our Democracy Summit'' at Iowa State University. Killinger previously served on the boards of the Seattle Alliance for Education, Seattle Repertory Theater, Washington Roundtable, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Financial Services Roundtable, Seattle Federal Home Loan Bank, and Federal Reserve's Thrift Industry Advisory Council. Killinger also received the Points of Light award from President George H.W. Bush for his philanthropy. In 2021, the Killingers authored the book ''Nothing is Too Big to Fail: How the Last Financial Crisis Informs Today.'' All proceeds of the book are donated to charities engaged in criminal and social justice, government reform, civil discourse, and community building.

Washington Mutual

Killinger joined

in 1983 when it acquired Murphey Favre. Killinger was named executive vice president, and promoted in 1986 to senior vice president, and to

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

in 1988. He was named president of the company that same year, CEO in 1990, and chairman in 1991.

American Banker ''American Banker'' is a Manhattan-based trade publication covering the financial services industry. Originally a daily newspaper, the print edition ceased publication in 2016, with an online edition continuing to be updated. The first issue of ...

named him its 2001 Banker of the Year. During his tenure as CEO, Washington Mutual grew from 30 branches and $7 billion of assets to over 2,000 branches and $300 billion of assets. In 2003, Killinger predicted that by 2008, Washington Mutual would not be identified as a bank serving wealthy customers, but a consumer bank serving everyday people, and they ultimately served over 11 million customers during the tenure of the bank. He said "We hope to do to this industry what Walmart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Lowe’s-Home Depot did to their industries." In 2008, Washington Mutual faced mounting losses from the mortgage market and steep declines in stock prices as a result of the

subprime mortgage crisis The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...

. The board of directors removed Killinger as CEO on September 8, 2008, replacing him with

Alan H. Fishman Alan H. Fishman (born 16 March 1946) is an American businessman. He was notably the last CEO of Washington Mutual (WaMu) prior to its assets being seized by federal regulators on September 25, 2008. Education and Career Fishman holds a bache ...

. The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) seized Washington Mutual's banking divisions on September 25, 2008, and named the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

as their receiver in the largest bank failure in the history of the United States. The FDIC incurred no losses on the seizure and sale of Washington Mutual. While CEO of Washington Mutual in 2007, Killinger earned a total compensation of $14,364,883. In 2008, he took home $25.1 million in compensation. Killinger received a $15.3 million severance payment in September 2008 "as well as a $445,200 lump-sum payment for vacation benefits and a $300,669 'special payment'". In March 2011, Killinger and two other bank officers were sued by the FDIC for "reckless lending". Killinger counter-sued the FDIC and all cases were settled in 2012 with no findings of fault. Investigations by the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

and

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

similarly concluded there were no findings of fault or basis to bring charges against Killinger or any executive officer of Washington Mutual. The portrayal of Killinger’s role in WaMu's downfall, told by Wall Street Journal reporter

Kirsten Grind Kirsten Grind (née Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard) is an American journalist and author. She is an investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco, the co-author of the upcoming book, Happy At Any Cost, The Revolutionary Vision and ...

in ''The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual —the Biggest Bank Failure in American History'' was challenged by Killinger in an open letter.

Selected works

*''Nothing is Too Big to Fail: How the Last Financial Crisis Informs Today'' (2021, RosettaBooks; )

External links

*
Interview at Bellevue Rotary

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killinger, Kerry 1949 births Living people University of Iowa alumni American chief executives of financial services companies Businesspeople from Des Moines, Iowa Businesspeople from Seattle