The bank’s rapid growth in the 1980s was followed by Southern California’s real estate crash in the early 1990s. It recovered and, by the time of Goldsmith’s retirement, was the largest independent commercial bank in Southern California, U.S. Banker reported in 1996.
Royal Bank
In November 2015, Royal Bank of Canada acquired City National Corp. for $5 billion. It was the Toronto-based lender’s biggest takeover.
“It is rare that you can describe someone as a visionary, but Bram was truly one of the great financial professionals of our age,” Royal Bank CEO Dave McKay said.
Royal Bank postponed its March 4 Investor Day presentation on the recently closed acquisition in the wake of Goldsmith’s death, according to a separate statement. A new date will be announced shortly, the Canadian bank said.
Today, City National Bank has more than $36 billion in assets and 75 offices in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, Nevada, New York, Nashville and Atlanta.
From 1981 to 1987, Goldsmith served as a board member of the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
He was a lifetime trustee of the United Jewish Appeal, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. He also led the effort to renovate the landmark 1933 Beverly Hills post office, now the site of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, including the 500-seat Bram Goldsmith Theater.
Goldsmith lived in Beverly Hills with his wife of more than 70 years, Elaine, a sculptress. They had two sons, Russell and Bruce, and five grandchildren.