SW: What do you think about the new TCF Bank stadium at the University of Minnesota?
BC: It’s great. It turned out to be one of the best-designed stadiums in the country. You know that fans call the basketball arena [Williams Arena] the Barn. I heard on the radio the other day that some are already calling the new stadium the Vault.
There were two aspects to the stadium deal. One was charity: The university is a primary economic and cultural engine in Minnesota. The other part was business: There are 280,000 U of M graduates who live in the Twin Cities. Of all the things that I’ve ever done in the bank, people are most appreciative of the stadium. They walk up and say thank you. Plus, we got access to all of the current students.
SW: You have Republican Party ties and chaired the party in Minnesota from 1997 to 1999. When Senator Norm Coleman made a tribute to you in Congress in 2006, he said your hero was Reagan. Why Reagan?
BC: The same reason everyone else thinks that way. Reagan actually got it done. He was a great president. He had the right ideas. He never gets credit for it, but he was a hugely successful manager who hired the right people. He created a boom. He turned it around internationally. When asked what he expected to do about the Cold War, he said, ‘Win it.’ My ideas and philosophies mirror his.
SW: You’re 65. How long will you be CEO?
BC: Don’t know. I really don’t. I’m healthy and I like [the job].
BW: Have you moved back here from Florida?
BC: Most of my family is in Columbus, Ohio. I spent 10 years there, my kids went to college there, and I have eight grandchildren there. I also have two adopted children, the youngest of whom is a senior in high school in Columbus. We didn’t want to move her, so my wife is in Columbus with her. We’ve kept a house in Wayzata, but I’m kind of a commuter husband at this point.
SW: What do you want your legacy to be?
BC: A lot of people have invested a ton of money with me—both depositors and shareholders. I would like them to have a positive experience. And right now, they’re not. I really want that to happen. I really love it when I walk around and people come up and say, ‘Boy, I really love that stock. I’ve done great.’ And I really dislike it when I walk around and get ‘What the hell happened to your stock?’
I represent the shareholders, plus I own a lot of [the stock]. When I’m all done, I want everyone to say, ‘I made money on that deal.’
Bill Cooper at a Glance |
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• Born in Detroit in 1943. • Earned an accounting degree from Wayne State University in 1967. Worked at banks in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. • Married and has seven children and 8 grandchildren. • Turned around Twin City Federal Savings and Loan after becoming its CEO in 1985; remade it into TCF Financial Corporation. • Chaired Minnesota’s Republican party from 1997 to 1999. • Retired as TCF CEO on January 1, 2006. Had founded Cooper State Bank (where he’s still director and majority shareholder) the year before in Columbus, Ohio, with his son, Bill Cooper, Jr. • Led an investor group that bought Minnesota’s Baja Sol restaurant chain in 2006. It has a combined 17 corporate and franchised locations in Minnesota, Ohio, and Illinois. • Chairs Friends of Education, a nonprofit that sponsors and oversees a number of charter schools in Minnesota; separately, helped launch Providence Academy, a private Catholic school in Plymouth. • Returned to the CEO job at TCF in July 2008. |
