First Interstate Bank Photographs

First Interstate Bancorp was founded as Firstamerica Corp. in 1958 when Transamerica Corp. spun off its banking interests. It became Western Bancorporation in 1961 and finally First Interstate Bancorp in 1981. The organization established a pattern of aggressive acquisitions that made it a significant presence in California finance and created a network covering 13 western states, including Arizona. First Interstate was, however, criticized for not managing these assets effectively: it often struggled to eliminate redundant operations in its network and suffered from bloated costs. It did not meet the financial industry's major criterion for profitability, earning at leas $1 for each $100 worth of assets, between 1987 and 1992. First Interstate became profitable in the mid-1990s and was sold to Wells Fargo & Co. for $11.6 billion in January of 1996.