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Category: News Author : Duncan Riley Posted: May 13, 2009
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Bill Seidman, former FDIC chairman and CNBC commentator dies at 88


l william bill seidman dead 88

Bill (William) Seidman, former FDIC chairman and CNBC commentator has died at age 88 after a short illness.

Bill Seidman‘s family released a short statement earlier, saying:

“Our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather devoted himself to education, to the business community, to the service of his country, and most of all to his family and friends. He was an extraordinarily gifted and generous man whose wit and wisdom touched all who knew him. For our family, the loss is immeasurable.”

L. William Seidman was born April, 29, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, his LLB from Harvard University and his MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

From Bill Seidman’s Wikipedia Page:

Bill Seidman began working in United States government as an economic adviser to President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1976, and later in a related capacity to President Ronald Reagan from 1982-1984. In 1985, he became the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and served until 1991, working extensively during the American savings and loan crisis to restore solvency to the failing savings and loan sector of American banking.

Bill Seidman worked as a chief financial commentator for the CNBC network, as well as an occasional speaker at various financial conferences worldwide. Seidman also joined SecondMarket, Inc. in December 2008 and served as a senior adviser to the firm.










Comments


One Archived Response to “ Bill Seidman, former FDIC chairman and CNBC commentator dies at 88 ”

  1. Alan Whitney
    May 14, 2009

    I served as Bill Seidman’s press secretary throughout his years as FDIC chairman and RTC chairman. I have many abiding memories of Bill. One stands out. During the autocratic rule of powerful White House chief of staff, John Sununu, Sununu decided to weigh in on the debate between the FDIC and the GAO as to whether the FDIC was insolvent. Events proved the FDIC was right, the GAO wrong.

    Nonetheless, Sununu announced his solution to the FDIC insolvency: bank customers would be charged a deposit insurance fee each time they made a deposit to their account. The idea, of course, was totally unworkable. Would customers, for example, receive a credit each time they wrote a check? Bill Seidman decided the best course was to drive a stake directly into the idea’s heart. In an interview with Kathleen Day of the Washington Post, he characterized Sununu’s idea as “an example of the reverse toaster theory of banking. “

    Kathleen asked him what that meant and he pointed to a recent period of banking history when banks competed for deposit customers by offering such premium gifts as kitchen toasters. Sununu, explained Bill Seidman, apparently wanted customers to reverse the flow of gift-giving and send toasters to the banks.

    By mid-morning, we were getting reports from White House insiders that Sununu had gone into a towering rage and vowed to “get Seidman out of Washington.” Bill asked me if I had any advice. I said, yes I do. If you ever find yourself in a room with John Sunun and he has a toaster in his hands, whatever you do, don’t bend over to tie your shoelace.

    And in the final analysis, we know who left Washington with his reputation and credibility intact, and who didn’t. Sununu’s were torn and tattered. Bill Seidman emerged as a nonpartisan, truth-telling voice to the powerful, respected by policy-makers on both sides of the political divide.