George Jones Jr., who is set to take over as chief executive officer of Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. in Dallas next month at the age of 64, didn’t have an easy start to his banking career.
His first job after college was with Mercantile National Bank in Dallas in 1967. He entered the company’s college graduate training program, where he worked in various departments over about five years, not making much money.
“I liked banking so much that I wanted to stay in banking, but what I was being paid couldn’t fully support my family,” he said.
He took a second job in the men’s section of a department store, and “I can still fit a suit today,” he said.
“I’m a better banker today because I learned about all the areas of the bank from the ground up,” Mr. Jones said. “Back then you really spent a lot of time in different areas of the bank. Today you don’t do that. You come out and fly through a couple of areas.”
Now, Mr. Jones, who is the president and CEO of the $4.4 billion-asset company’s Texas Capital Bank subsidiary and the parent company’s president, will be able to make more use of his banking acumen when he succeeds Joseph “Jody” Grant as the holding company’s chief executive.
Mr. Grant, 69, who is also chairman and helped organize Texas Capital with Mr. Jones in 1998, will become chairman emeritus May 19. A member of the board, J.R. Holland, will become the nonexecutive chairman.
Mr. Jones has also led four Dallas bank or finance companies — Texas American Bank, NorthPark National Bank, Mack Financial Group, and Resource Bank Dallas — and was an executive vice president for Comerica Bank after Comerica Inc. acquired NorthPark.
American Banker recently talked with Mr. Jones about his career and the job he is about to begin.
What initiatives do you have planned for Texas Capital in your new role as CEO?
I get asked that a lot since my appointment. My initial response is “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” So my first initiative is to be sure I am not too creative with things that are working well.
Obviously, part of the job is to find new ways to improve the performance of the company, but it’s too early for me to say if or when anything is going to changed.
What do you see as the biggest struggle for the bank?
It is still a competitive environment, even with the challenges in the financial markets. Texas is still looked at as a very attractive place to be … and we still have to compete in the challenges of today’s marketplace — continuing to keep credit quality strong, keeping capital in really good shape, and a third initiative for us is to be able to take advantage of that marketplace.
Banks like ours that have a lot of dry powder, good credit quality, and good capital will have opportunities in this turmoil. With the number of large banks that have turned inward, we have the opportunity to take some customer relationships and bring on really good people that find themselves in a situation they want to change.
What are your main business lines at Texas Capital?
Middle-market commercial, companies that average $10 million to $200 million top-line revenues; privately owned companies; and private client relationships.
What has been your best banking moment?
The best moment I can remember was when I got my first CEO title. That was back in the early 1980s. That is where I met my partner, Jody Grant, at Texas American Bancshares.
The thing that mot impacted me was going from a narrow focus on lending to responsibilities for operations, trust services, and asset management.
What has been your worst banking moment?
I’d have to say the late 1980s and early 1990s, where all of us who were old enough to be in the banking business at that time had to struggle with asset quality and banking failures. That was a dark time in banking in the state of Texas. I’ve never been at a bank when it failed. But I was certainly dealing with the same issues at the banks I was with at the time.
