First Hawaiian shifting leadership in rough times

By Frank Cho
Advertiser Staff Writer

Don Horner does not like to lose.

Don Horner is facing some big challenges. Advertiser library photo

"I don't expect failure. If we take on something, we are going to win," said a soft-spoken, but straight-talking Horner. "I don't do anything halfway, and I expect the same out of our people, nothing less."

Walter Dods, First Hawaiian's chief executive officer, named Horner his heir apparent earlier this year after spending much of the past 10 years grooming the former naval officer for the job. About 75 percent of the bank already reports to Horner, including consumer and business banking in Hawai'i, Guam and Saipan and its business banking centers and private banking.

Still, Horner has to overcome some big challenges.

Horner, 51, knows he must grapple with a soft economy and the economic aftermath of Sept. 11, which is still being felt in Hawai'i's visitor industry. Also, he will be taking over a bank that is facing increasing competition from insurance companies, brokerage firms and other banks.

"He is a better banker than I am, that's for sure," said Dods. "He is forthright, and he fights for his people almost unlike any executive I have ever known."

Dods said he was thrust into the job of chief executive officer of the bank in 1989 upon the death of John Bellinger. At 48, Dods was the youngest president of the bank and says he probably was not 100 percent ready to take over.

"That left a really strong impression, and I vowed to myself that I would never let that happen again," Dods said.

So Dods, who is 60 and on a three-year contract that started last year, has picked Horner as his understudy.

For Horner, being chief executive of First Hawaiian might as well be an Olympic sport because that's the way he plays it. He regularly gets into "debates" with Dods at the bank's senior management meetings over everything from policies to loans.

"He stands up to me, which is another trait I really admire in a guy," Dods said.

Horner's efforts haven't gone unrewarded. He earned $577,000 in salary and bonus in 2001, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

His duties aren't light, either.

First Hawaiian Bank has been going through major changes since the late 1990s with a breakdown in barriers between financial service companies, allowing banks to sell insurance and insurers to offer checking accounts.

"The evolution over the next three years will be integrating estate planning, private banking and insurance with investments and trusts," Horner said. "That is going to be a major shift for this institution."

Born in Fayetteville, N.C., Horner graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in business in 1972 and a Navy commission. He was assigned to a destroyer at Pearl Harbor just as the Vietnam War was winding down for the United States.

Horner was among the first to earn the distinction of "surface warfare officer," a difficult certification process that signified Horner was trained in all facets of running a warship.

Now Horner is bringing that same drive to the executive suites of First Hawaiian Bank, the state's oldest financial institution.

"I think a large measure of what I am was formed in the military," Horner said during an interview in his simply adorned office on the 29th floor of First Hawaiian Center. "It taught me a lot about managing people. It taught me about getting things done on time. It was definitely a learning experience for me."

After leaving active duty in 1976, Horner attended the University of Southern California, where he earned his MBA. With MBA in hand, he returned to Honolulu and went to work for Merrill Lynch.

Even in a company filled with hard-chargers and outsized ambitions, Horner stood out and First Hawaiian decided to recruit him.

When Horner interviewed for a bottom-of-the-ladder job of credit analyst at First Hawaiian Bank nearly 24 years ago, it was clear to senior managers then that he could tear a company's balance sheet apart.

"I could tell he was a very insightful and intelligent person," said Jack Hoag, a former racquet ball partner of Horner's and past president of First Hawaiian. "He had a very eclectic view of finances, and he clearly had a world view of things, which was very impressive."

Horner got the job and was then assigned to First Hawaiian Leasing in 1979, where he did well, by all accounts, eventually rising to president of the leasing company by 1985.

As a reward, the bank asked Horner to take over First Hawaiian Credit Corp. which also had been struggling financially. He turned around First Hawaiian Credit, too, before it was merged into the bank.

"What makes Don so effective when dealing with companies is he does his homework and then he doesn't blink," Hoag said.

But Horner is reluctant to call himself a simple numbers man.

"I am a people manager who understands numbers. I like business and in business, numbers are critical," Horner said. "But it is people that matter most."

And the people that have mattered most to Horner are his wife and two young sons. Horner says he always tries to leave the office on schedule and makes time for his family and community.

"For someone who is one of the busiest guys in our state, he always seems to find time for our church," said Ron Mathiew, executive director for the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu. "If you need to get things done, Don would be that kind of guy.

"Some people just give money or whatever, but Don always gives his time."

Horner is an ordained Elder-Trustee at the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu and a frequent volunteer at Iolani School, where his sons attend.

Last month, Horner spent a night in a tent on the school grounds with his sons and their classmates as part of the school's space night to study astronomy.

"You don't want to become your job; you have to have a personality," Horner said. "I have lived here for almost 30 years, and I have learned you have to be yourself.

"So I am Don Horner, not Don Horner, the banker."

Reach Frank Cho at 525-8088, or at fcho@honoluluadvertiser.com.