With Respect and Gratitude

It is with sadness that we mourn the loss of William (Bill) S. Edgerly, Chairman Emeritus of State Street , who served as our company’s Chairman and CEO from 1975 through 1992, and led the revolutionary transformation of State Street.

Indeed, the State Street we know today—a technology-led, global, Fortune 500 financial services firm with over 40,000 employees operating in more than 100 geographic markets worldwide—is the direct result of Bill’s perspicacity and strategic vision.

A capsule history of State Street that doubles as a lesson in leadership: when Bill took the helm of the company in the mid-1970s, State Street was a regional bank with a processing business. We had retail branches, commercial banking, credit cards, and mortgages. Bill recognized the opportunity from shifts in demographics and how the increasing scale requirements on traditional banking services threatened regional banks and retirement investors like State Street. Therefore, Bill made the strategic decision to pivot from State Street’s traditional commercial role and focus instead on large-scale asset management and asset servicing.

Bill focused on technology and geographic expansion—dedicating fully 25% of the company’s operating costs to IT—almost twice the average of peers at the time—and dramatically extended the footprint of the firm. It is no exaggeration to say that Bill laid the foundation of modern-day State Street.

Bill also was a leader that exercised the highest ethical morals and ethics—standards that infused his strategic thinking and execution. If in certain ways he projected the image of a traditional business leader of his era (one former colleague admiringly noted that his idea of “dress-down Friday” meant loosening his tie in the afternoon), Bill proved ahead of his time in myriad ways. He recognized the power and importance of corporate giving and philanthropy, and how businesses that continue to grow and thrive must come to reflect their employees, communities, and clients. Bill was instrumental in founding State Street Foundation—and launched our firm’s philanthropic arm with a commitment that was progressive for its time and set a standard for corporate giving. Similarly, Bill was among the first U.S. corporate leaders to grasp and champion the importance of working toward greater gender parity in the workplace.

The word “visionary” is overused in the business arena. However, Bill was a leader of true vision: he saw where our industry and our world were going and endeavored to make both better places through the good work of business. In sending our deepest condolences to his family and friends, we celebrate the legacy of all that Bill built, which elevated not only State Street but the entire financial industry.

We thank you for everything, Bill.