Robert Michael Fomon (January 3, 1925 – May 31, 2000) was an American financier who was

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of E. F. Hutton & Co. from 1970 to 1987, a governor of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the

Pacific Stock Exchange The Pacific Exchange was a regional stock exchange in California, from 1956 to 2006. Its main exchange floor and building were in San Francisco, California, with a branch building in Los Angeles, California. In 1882, the San Francisco Stock and ...

. Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, after the early death of his mother, Robert Fomon and his older brother Samuel spent their childhood with relatives in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

where they attended high school. Robert went on to graduate from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and in 1951 went to work in the

corporate finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the Value investing, value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and anal ...

department of the

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office of E. F. Hutton & Co.

Personal life

Robert Fomon was first married in 1954 to Marilyn Quaintance with whom he had two children. Divorced, he married for a second time in 1975 to

Sharon Kay Ritchie Sharon Kay Ritchie (born January 12, 1937) was Miss America in 1956. Early life Ritchie spent her childhood in Grand Island, Nebraska, but hailed from Denver and was later crowned Miss Colorado 1955. Personal life Ritchie was previously married ...

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

of 1956. That marriage too ended in divorce and in 1989 he married Daphne Lewis Ashley Widener, the ex-wife of

Widener family The Widener family is an American family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Peter Arrell Browne Widener (1834–1915) and his wife, Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836–1896), it was once one of the wealthiest families in the United ...

member, Peter A. B. Widener III. While living in California in the 1960s, Robert Fomon became involved in the sport of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. He notably owned in partnership the colt Inclusive, winner of the 1963 Texas Derby at Sunland Racetrack in Sunland Park, New Mexico and the 1964

San Luis Rey Handicap The San Luis Rey Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Held during the third week of March, the Grade III event is open to horses of either gender, age four and up, willing to race ...

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

Head of E. F. Hutton & Co.

Fomon joined E. F. Hutton in 1951, eventually rising to head of

. In 1970, he was named chairman and CEO of Hutton as a compromise candidate and relocated to its headquarters in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. During his tenure, Fomon oversaw the sale of Hutton shares to the public and listing on the New York Stock exchange, and the creation of its famous advertising slogan, "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen." The May 6, 1987 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that his leadership "helped build the retail-oriented brokerage house into one of the industry's most successful during a difficult era on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

." Robert Fomon also recognized the potential dangers of

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

s in the financial industry and advised the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

administration of

President Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

that he believed there was a fundamental

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

in the case of

money management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...

firms and brokerage houses and the two should operate as independent entities.

Business scandal and resignation

In 1984 the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania opened a federal criminal probe into an E. F. Hutton check-overdrafting scheme that operated between 1980 and 1982 and which earned the company millions of dollars in illegal gains. As a result, the company's reputation was severely tarnished and it began losing clients which quickly led to financial difficulties. In December 1986, the company pleaded guilty to 2,000 felony counts, but neither Robert Fomon or any Hutton executives were charged. In early 1987, Hutton's

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

forced Robert Fomon to step down as head of the company. E. F. Hutton & Co. never recovered from the damage the scandal caused and in 1988 it was acquired by

Shearson Lehman Brothers Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward Shearsonheart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at a

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

hospital on May 31, 2000 at age seventy-five.

References

June 3, 2000 ''New York Times'' obituary for Robert M. Fomon

September 30, 1985 ''The Miami News'' article on Robert Fomom
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fomon, Robert M. 1925 births 2000 deaths University of Southern California alumni Stock and commodity market managers American racehorse owners and breeders Businesspeople from Chicago Stockbrokers 20th-century American businesspeople American chief executives of financial services companies