Sounds like an anomaly, doesn’t it? A “poor man’s banker,” but that’s what thousands of disenfranchised immigrants called the gracious Amadeo Pietro Giannini. His contemporaries referred to him as “America’s Banker.” The son of Italian immigrants, Virginia and Luigi, Amadeo was born on a farm in San Jose, California on May 6, 1870.

At 7, he was traumatized by the murder of his father, and at 14 he went to work in his stepfather’s produce business. The hardworking Giannini — who earned a partnership in the business — found success, sold the company to his employees and “retired” at the young age of 31.