Former Wachovia CEO John Medlin Dies at 78

John Medlin Jr., the longtime chairman and chief executive at Wachovia Corp. and one of the most respected bankers of his generation, died Thursday.

Medlin suffered a heart attack while playing tennis, according to news reports. He was 78.

Medlin joined Wachovia in 1959 after graduating from the University of North Carolina and serving several years in the Navy, and he became its CEO in 1977.

In his 17 years at the helm, Medlin transformed Wachovia from a modest community bank in Winston-Salem, N.C., to a regional powerhouse and one of the nation's 25 largest banks.

Perhaps more notable than his shrewd dealmaking, however, was his strict adherence to credit quality. Under Medlin, Wachovia was universally admired for its consistently solid performance that largely stemmed from its squeaky clean loan portfolio.

In an interview with American Banker in 2002, Medlin said he was strongly influenced by the "old-timers" who had been through the Depression and were still with the company when he joined two decades later. Their belief that history could repeat itself "gives you an appreciation for the nature of the business," Medlin said at the time. "It is so important to pay attention to risk management, particularly credit risk management."

Medlin stepped down as Wachovia's CEO in 1994 and retired as nonexecutive chairman four year later. In 2001, when First Union in Charlotte and SunTrust Banks in Atlanta staged a public battle for the rights to buy Wachovia, Medlin openly backed First Union's bid because of its promise to preserve Wachovia's heritage. First Union ultimately prevailed in the battle and took Wachovia's name after completing the deal.

Medlin stayed active in retirement as an adviser to banking regulators and serving on the boards of several nonprofits and corporations, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Media General, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.