Tom Broughton Shares the ServisFirst Bank Story

President Jeff Stone and Rotarian Jim Hughey with Cam Ward

This week, the Rotary Club of Birmingham (RCB) welcomed Rotarian Tom Broughton, Founder and Executive Chairman of ServisFirst Bank. Broughton gave an overview of the evolution of the banking industry and the growth story behind ServisFirst since its founding in 2005. Broughton discussed banking industry trends like the decline in bank branches, the dominance of the “big four” banks, and the rise of private credit lenders. He emphasized the bank’s disciplined growth model, clean balance sheet, and focus on metropolitan markets. Now operating in 11 regions with 34 offices and $1.6 billion in equity, Broughton credited ServisFirst’s ability to maintain strong credit quality through local decision-making and relationship-focused banking.

Bio for Tom Broughton

Tom Broughton received a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree from The University of Alabama and a Master of Business Administration from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Tom has spent his entire banking career based in the Birmingham area. In 1985 he founded the de novo First Commercial Bank and was named President. When First Commercial Bank was bought by Synovus in 1992, he continued as President and was named Chief Executive Officer of First Commercial Bank. While with Synovus, he also served as Regional Chief Executive Officer responsible for Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and parts of Georgia. He continued his work in this position until his retirement from Synovus in August 2004. In 2005, Tom founded ServisFirst Bank raising $35 million in capital, which at that time, was the largest bank start up amount raised in the State of Alabama. Today he serves as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer. He also founded and organized the formation of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc., the bank holding company that holds ServisFirst Bank as its subsidiary. Tom led the ServisFirst Bancshares’ Initial Public Offering in May 2014. ServisFirst Bank has offices across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. In 2009, American Banker named Tom “Community Banker of the Year.”