Bank of America vs Meta: Founders, CEOs and History

Bank of America was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Peter Giannini and is led by Brian Moynihan. Meta was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and is led by Mark Zuckerberg.

Company facts

Bank of America

Founded: 1904
Headquarters: Charlotte, North Carolina
Current CEO: Brian Moynihan
Employees: 213,000

Founders

Bank of America

Amadeo Peter Giannini
Bank of America was founded by A. P. Giannini, the San Jose-born son of Italian immigrants. In 1904 he opened the Bank of Italy in a converted saloon in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. His aim was unusual for the time: to lend to working people.

Bank of America founders in full

CEOs and their tenures

Bank of America

Amadeo Peter Giannini1904–1945
Founder and Chairman
Giannini was born in San Jose, California, in 1870 to Italian immigrant parents and sold fruit and vegetables from a horse-drawn wagon before opening the Bank of Italy in San Francisco at the age of 34.
Source
Hugh L. McColl Jr.1998–2001
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
McColl joined the company in 1959 as a management trainee and built NationsBank through interstate acquisitions before its 1998 combination with San Francisco based BankAmerica, which took the Bank of America name and created the first coast-to-coast U.S.
Source
Ken Lewis2001–2009
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Lewis joined the company in 1969 as a credit analyst, ran corporate strategy from 1999, and became chairman and chief executive officer on April 25, 2001 when Hugh McColl retired.
Source
Brian Moynihan2010–present
Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Moynihan became chief executive officer on January 1, 2010, after running the general counsel, consumer banking and wealth management units, and he also chairs the board.
Source

Bank of America CEO history in full

Timeline: Bank of America and Meta side by side

1904Bank of America
Bank of Italy Founded
A.P. Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco to expand access to banking for immigrants, wage earners, and small merchants.
1906Bank of America
San Francisco Earthquake Response
After the 1906 earthquake, Giannini resumed lending while much of San Francisco's banking system was disrupted. The response turned emergency access to credit into lasting customer trust and became a defining story in the bank's retail identity.
1930Bank of America
Bank of Italy Renamed Bank of America
The Bank of Italy changed its name to Bank of America on November 1, 1930. The rebrand reflected a wider consumer and business ambition beyond the original immigrant-community label.
1958Bank of America
BankAmericard Introduced
Bank of America introduced BankAmericard in 1958, a revolving-credit card that later became part of the Visa system. The product tied the bank to modern consumer credit, merchant acceptance, and payment-network economics.
1998Bank of America
NationsBank and BankAmerica Merge
The 1998 merger of Charlotte-based NationsBank and San Francisco's BankAmerica created the first coast-to-coast U.S. bank under the Bank of America name. It also shifted the modern company's headquarters center to Charlotte.
2004Meta
Facebook launches at Harvard
Facebook launched on February 4, 2004, as a real-name student network. The product mattered because it made identity, campus trust and friend connections the core of the service before the company became a public social platform.
2006Bank of America
MBNA Merger Completed
The MBNA merger expanded the card business to more than 40M active accounts and nearly $140B in managed balances, according to the company's January 2006 release. That size made cards a more important part of consumer banking revenue and risk.
2007Meta
Ad platform becomes the business model
Facebook's advertising products turned user attention into a scalable commercial system. The shift mattered because the company could keep the consumer product free while charging marketers for measurable reach, targeting and conversion tools.
2008Bank of America
Countrywide Acquisition Approved
The Federal Reserve approved Bank of America's acquisition of Countrywide in June 2008. The deal added mortgage scale but later became a costly warning about buying distressed loan portfolios during a housing crisis.
2008Bank of America
Merrill Lynch Acquisition Approved
The Federal Reserve approved the acquisition of Merrill Lynch in November 2008. Although the integration was controversial, Merrill became central to the company's wealth-management and investment-banking fee base.
2012Meta
Instagram acquisition
Facebook agreed to acquire Instagram for about $1 billion in cash and stock. The deal mattered because Instagram was mobile-native at a moment when Facebook needed to prove it could survive the smartphone shift.
2012Meta
Facebook IPO
Facebook completed its initial public offering in May 2012, raising about $16 billion.
2014Bank of America
Mortgage Settlements With the Justice Department and FHFA
Bank of America agreed in August 2014 to a $16.65B settlement with the Justice Department over mortgage claims tied to Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, following a March 2014 FHFA agreement with an aggregate payment of about $9.33B.
2014Meta
WhatsApp acquisition
Facebook announced a deal to acquire WhatsApp, adding a large private messaging network to a company still known mainly for public feeds.
2014Meta
Oculus acquisition
Facebook agreed to acquire Oculus VR for about $2 billion. The deal mattered because it gave the company a hardware and immersive-computing bet years before the Meta rebrand.
2018Bank of America
Erica Launched
Bank of America launched Erica in 2018 as an AI-enabled virtual assistant inside digital banking. The launch mattered because customer service, insights, and routine account tasks were moving from branches and call centers into mobile channels.
2021Meta
Facebook becomes Meta
Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta in 2021 to bring its apps and technologies under a new company brand.
2023Bank of America
CFPB and OCC Orders on Fees, Rewards and Accounts
In July 2023 the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay more than $100M to customers for repeat non-sufficient-funds fees, withheld credit card rewards and unauthorized accounts, plus $90M in CFPB penalties, and the OCC added a $60M penalty.
2023Meta
Threads launch
Meta launched Threads in July 2023 and said the app passed 100 million sign-ups in its first five days. The launch mattered because Instagram distribution gave Meta a fast entry into real-time text conversation.
2024Meta
$164.501B revenue
Meta reported $164.501 billion in FY2024 revenue and $62.360 billion in net income. The year mattered because AI-powered ad tools, Reels monetization and expense discipline restored confidence after the 2022 slowdown.
2025Bank of America
$113.1B FY2025 Revenue
The company reported $113.1B in total revenue net of interest expense and $30.5B in net income for FY2025. The result showed the combined scale of deposits, wealth management, cards, payments, global banking, and markets.
2025Bank of America
Co-Presidents Named
On September 12, 2025 Bank of America named Dean Athanasia and Jim DeMare Co-Presidents and gave Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick the added title of executive vice president.
2025Meta
$200.966B Revenue
Meta reported $200.966B in FY2025 revenue, $60.458B in net income, $83.276B in income from operations, and 78,865 employees at year-end.
2026Meta
Q2 2026 revenue up 28%
Meta reported Q2 2026 revenue of $60.80B, up 28%, and net income of $15.85B, down 14%, after $2.40B of legal charges and $1.18B of severance from a May 2026 headcount reduction. It narrowed 2026 capex guidance to $130-145B.

Acquisitions

Bank of America

Countrywide Financial2008$4B
Merrill Lynch2008$50B
LaSalle Bank2007$21B
MBNA2006$35B
FleetBoston Financial2004$47B
BankAmerica / NationsBank merger1998$43B

All Bank of America acquisitions

Questions about Bank of America vs Meta

Who is the CEO of Bank of America Corporation and Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Bank of America Corporation is led by Brian Moynihan and Meta Platforms, Inc. is led by Mark Zuckerberg. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.

When was Bank of America Corporation founded vs Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1904 — 100 years before Meta Platforms, Inc., which was founded in 2004. Bank of America Corporation's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Meta Platforms, Inc..

How many employees does Bank of America Corporation have compared to Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Bank of America Corporation employs approximately 213,000 people, while Meta Platforms, Inc. employs approximately 75,472. Bank of America Corporation has the larger workforce at 213,000 employees, compared to Meta Platforms, Inc.'s 75,472. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).

Where are Bank of America Corporation and Meta Platforms, Inc. headquartered?

Both Bank of America Corporation and Meta Platforms, Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.

Who founded Bank of America Corporation and Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Bank of America Corporation was founded by Amadeo Peter Giannini. Meta Platforms, Inc. was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes.

Which company has a longer operating history — Bank of America Corporation or Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Bank of America Corporation has been operating for approximately 122 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Meta Platforms, Inc. has been in operation for around 22 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.

Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Bank of America vs Meta overview