In 1906, A.P. Giannini rescued $80,000 from his bank and hid it beneath a load of oranges. San Francisco was burning after the earthquake, so he moved and took the money home to San Mateo and stashed it in his fireplace's ashtray. The Bank of Italy was eighteen months old at the time. But later it would wind up taking the name of Bank of America. Giannini was born in California to Italian immigrants and had spent years selling produce.

He opened his bank for people many bankers preferred to turn away. Italian immigrants were among them. They earned wages and ran small businesses but often struggled to find a bank willing to take their savings or lend them money. But not Giannini. He knocked on doors and stopped neighbors in the street, many of whom had never had a bank account. Soon enough farmers and carpenters came to his bank, along with shopkeepers who had little property to offer as security. Then the 1906 earthquake struck. Fires destroyed much of San Francisco, including Giannini's bank building. However, he soon resumed business on a wharf, using a plank across two barrels as a counter.

While other banks struggled to reopen, he began lending money to people who needed to repair homes or get their businesses running again. Customers brought him gold they had hidden under their beds, and deposits grew. Often, the agreement was sealed with a handshake. In the rebuilt bank, Giannini kept his desk out in the open, where anyone could walk up and talk to him. His banks stayed open as late as nine or ten at night for people who worked during the day. As the business opened branches across California, employees and customers became shareholders. In 1930, it took the name Bank of America. But when rumors came that his successor, Wall Street financier Elisha Walker, was selling off banks to shrink the business, Giannini felt the need to return and stop him. This time, he needed votes, and so went knocking on doors again, asking the people who had bought shares to help him regain control. And won control he did. When he came out to address his cheering supporters, tears were streaming down his face. Let's move forward, he told them. "We've got work to do.