First Republic Bank

First Republic Bank was a San Francisco, California-based commercial bank and trust company founded on February 5, 1985 by Jim Herbert, previously the founder of San Francisco Bancorp. The bank focused on delivering high-touch private banking and wealth management services to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, and businesses. Its core offerings included private banking, personal and business lending, mortgage origination, trust and estate services, brokerage, and investment management. The bank grew steadily over nearly four decades, operating 93 offices across 11 states, primarily concentrated in New York, California, Massachusetts, and Florida. At its peak in 2022, First Republic reported total assets of $212.6 billion and employed approximately 7,213 people. In early 2023, a crisis of confidence triggered by rising interest rates and deposit flight — mirroring the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — led to over $104 billion in deposit withdrawals in a single quarter. Unable to stabilize, First Republic was seized by the FDIC on May 1, 2023. JPMorgan Chase immediately acquired substantially all of its assets and assumed its deposits for $10.6 billion, absorbing approximately 5,100 former First Republic employees into its operations.