William Biggerstaff

William Edward ("Bill") Biggerstaff

Resident of Portola Valley

William E. ("Bill") Biggerstaff, whose career included senior positions with Ford and Wells Fargo Bank, culminating in 1983 as a co-founder of Silicon Valley Bank, passed away Nov. 15 in Portola Valley, Calif. He was 91 years old.

Mr. Biggerstaff is survived by his wife of 59 years, Shirley Gibson Biggerstaff, along with four children and seven grandchildren.

He was born in Berkeley, California on March 17, 1919, the youngest of four children of Eugene and Elizabeth Biggerstaff. An avid sportsman both as a player and fan Mr. Biggerstaff lettered in basketball three years while studying at the University of California, Berkeley. Among those he played against was UCLA's Jackie Robinson. Upon graduating from Cal Berkeley in 1940, Mr. Biggerstaff entered the U.S. Navy and later commanded a destroyer escort in the South Pacific during World War II.

After the war, Mr. Biggerstaff attended Harvard Business School and graduated in 1947 with a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He retuned to the Bay Area, and worked first in auto sales, and later for Mechanics Bank in Richmond. It was at this time that he met and courted Shirley Gibson of Piedmont, Calif. The couple married in 1951 at her parents' home in Berkeley, and honeymooned while driving from the Bay Area to Southern California. Two years later, he joined the international division of Ford Motor Company. His sales and marketing positions took him and his family to New York City; Dearborn, Mich. and Brussels, where he was responsible for opening new markets for Ford in Europe.

The family returned to the U.S. in 1960, living a couple of years in Racine, Wis., and later relocated to Atherton, Calif. Mr. Biggerstaff joined Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco and, among other duties, introduced MasterCard to banking clients in Japan, Australia and other markets.

In the late 1970's Mr. Biggerstaff, while driving to Pajaro Dunes Resort for a weekend of poker with friends, conceived the idea of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) with his friend, Stanford professor and entrepreneur Robert Madearis. They recognized the need for investment banking to small to medium-size technology firms. In October, 1983, Messrs Biggerstaff and Madearis, along with then-CEO Roger Smith, opened the bank's first office in San Jose. Mr. Biggerstaff helped develop new markets and clients for the bank well into his 80's. Today, SVB Financial Group has 26 offices in the U.S., and subsidiaries in the U.K., Israel, India and China. An annual employee award is named in Mr. Biggerstaff's honor.

In addition to his professional career, Mr. Biggerstaff was active for several years at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, serving as a deacon and in the church's ministry with the incarcerated.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Shirley; four children Barry Biggerstaff of Carbondale, Ill.; Beth Andersen of Rocklin, Calif.; Jan Owen of suburban Seattle; and Brandon Biggerstaff of Emeryville, Calif. He also leaves seven grandchildren: Carrie Naylor of Princeton, N.J.; Whitney Hammar of Seattle; Matthew Biggerstaff of San Francisco, Laura Andersen of San Francisco; Clayton Biggerstaff of San Luis Obispo, Calif., Brett Andersen of Davis, Calif., and Embry Owen of New York City.

The family is planning a private memorial to honor and celebrate Mr. Biggerstaff's life. Donations may be made in Mr. Biggerstaff's name to: Pathways Hospice, 585 North Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif., 94085