First Republic co-CEO resigns in latest succession twist

First Republic Bank in San Francisco is on the hunt for its next chief executive after Hafize Gaye Erkan stepped down from her position as co-CEO.

Erkan, who was named co-CEO last July, has resigned to pursue other opportunities, the $173 billion-asset company said Monday. Just last month, First Republic announced that founder, Chairman and co-CEO James Herbert was taking a medical leave of absence in connection with a coronary health issue.

First Republic said Monday that its board of directors has named President Mike Roffler as interim co-CEO and engaged the recruiting firm Korn Ferry to lead the search for its next CEO.

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

“We are grateful for Gaye’s many significant contributions during her tenure as a key member of our outstanding executive team. We wish her all the best, personally and professionally,” Herbert said in a press release.

Herbert has been First Republic’s only chief executive since he founded the bank in 1985. Erkan, who was widely seen as the likely eventual successor, joined First Republic in 2014 from Goldman Sachs. She was named president in 2017 and joined the bank’s board in 2019, when she was also named to American Banker’s Women to Watch.

Five months after Erkan was named co-CEO, First Republic announced on Dec. 13 that Herbert would take a six-month medical leave of absence beginning on Jan. 1. As part of the same announcement, the company said that Roffler, who had been serving as chief financial officer since 2015, would become the company’s president on Jan. 1.

In connection with Roffler’s latest appointment as interim co-CEO, First Republic named Olga Tsokova, currently chief accounting officer, as its acting CFO. Tsokova joined First Republic in 2015 after spending 10 years as the chief accounting officer at City National Bank in Los Angeles.