He gained the world. But then he lost it and those who were closest to him. However, Shaun Hayes never lost his soul while hitting the lowest of lows in a federal penitentiary that once housed John Gotti. Shaun was once at the top of the banking world in St. Louis until he was in the wrong place at the wrong time during one of the worst recessions ever, which led to approving bank loans that violated state and federal laws.
Book Synopsis
In The Gray Choice, we learn about a young man with entrepreneurial instincts who learned the art of selling fireworks and loaning modest sums of money to his peers with lofty returns. After college, he worked for a larger-than-life legendary banker in Kansas City. That work took him to St. Louis to grow that bank’s presence in that region.
A few years later, Shaun bought into his first bank, which would become a small $1 billion empire that went public. Shaun points out that his gray choices started well before he was arrested, which is the topic of this podcast episode.
Episode Highlights
- An explanation of Shaun’s banking crime
- Entrepreneurial instincts in Thayer, Missouri
- Loan sharking, a different kind of banking, and the reason he quit
- A Crosby Kemper story
- The move to St. Louis
- 168-mile trek to Kahoka
- Saving $250 to transport $750,000 in a personal car
- Intelligent and fast growth at Allegiant Bancorp
- The triangle, or the assembling of the key team
- Pushing
- “We were tired and tired of each other,” and the sale to National City
- The prison years
- RDAP
- The limitations and weaknesses of ethics training in the corporate workplace
I have no reason to look down on anyone anymore. My journey has forever changed me.
Shaun R. Hayes, former banker, multimillionaire, and convicted felon–BOP Register number 45783-044 (Introduction to The Gray Choice)
The Allegiant Bancorp Timeline
At one time, Allegiant was the largest bank holding company exclusively serving the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. Here is its origin and partial timeline based on the book, The Gray Choice.
June 1, 1982 – Shaun Hayes starts his career at UMB in Kansas City
May 19, 1989, Shaun leaves UMB and finds investors to buy a bank in Kahoka, MO
August 30, 1980, Allegiant buys North St. Louis Trust Company
1992, assets grow to $68 million
1993, assets grow to $100 million
1994, assets grow to $171 million
1995, Allegiant goes public
1996, assets grow to $400 million
1997, the Reliance Federal Savings stock purchase
1997, E&Y becomes the bank’s auditors
~ 2000, Equality Savings Bank acquired
November 15, 2000, assets hit $1 billion
September 28, 2001, Southside Bancshares acquired
April 9, 2004, National City acquires Allegiant
Below are some of Allegiant’s relevant numbers reported in its last 10-k report:
Books Mentioned
Books mentioned during the conversation included Three Felonies A Day by Harvey Silverglate and The Matheny Manifesto by Mike Matheny.
When someone spirals or gets in trouble, it’s natural to judge them and look down on them from your high horse, wondering how they could have fallen so far.
Shaun Hayes
Episode Pairings
If you enjoyed this episode, consider the following for your next listen to the CFO Bookshelf podcast:
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