Bank of America 2000 Annual Report Download - page 4

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2
Grow a Reputation Bank of America continues
to achieve industry prominence and earn
awards and citations from a broad range of
organizations for its business successes, work-
place innovations and contributions to its com-
munities. Following are highlights from 2000:
Received NAACP Corporate
Excellence Award and scored
highest rank in NAACP’s first
consumer report card on the
banking industry.
Ranked by Working
Mother magazine as one
of the nation’s top 10
companies for working
mothers.
Looking Back, Forging Ahead
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS: This will be my final letter to you as chairman and chief executive officer of
your company.
In the fall of 1998, when we created the new Bank of America, the board of directors asked me to remain as
CEO past the normal retirement age. I agreed to stay on long enough to see us through the merger transition and
set the company on a strong course for the future. While we clearly have many challenges still to face, it is my
judgment that we have largely reached these milestones. As such, I have decided the time is right to hand the
reins of your company to a new generation of leadership.
To this end, I have informed our board of directors that I will retire from the company on April 25, 2001
at our annual shareholders meeting. The board, in turn, has named Kenneth D. Lewis, currently president and
chief operating officer of your company, chairman-elect and CEO-elect. Mr. Lewis will assume those offices
immediately upon my retirement.
A Year of Progress and Challenges In 2000, our company had operating earnings of $7.86 billion on
revenues of more than $33 billion and a return on common equity of 16.7%. In the 18 months ended December 31,
we repurchased 146 million shares of our common stock at an investment of $8.1 billion, reducing our shares out-
standing by 8%. A more complete description of the year’s financial results can be found on page 7.