Transamerica Corporation

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Transamerica Corporation issued in 1974. This historic document was printed by the Security-Columbian Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an allegorical man with a globe and the San Francisco City Skyline including the Transamerica Building in the background. This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s Chairman of the Board (John R. Beckett )and Secretary and is over 28 years old. We have not seen many of these certificates around.






Certificate Vignette



A.P. Giannini as a holding company for Bank of Italy (later to become Bank of America) and his other business interests.

Transamerica prospered with banking and non-banking activities (primarily insurance) for nearly 30 years, helping Giannini to achieve his dream of providing financial service to the general public.

In 1956, Congress passed the Bank Holding Company Act, effectively prohibiting a company from owning both banking and nonbanking companies. To comply, Transamerica completed the divestiture of its banking activities, which had begun in the 1930s. This left the company with a foundation in life insurance and property and casualty insurance.

In 1960, John R. Beckett joined Transamerica as president. Over the next 20 years, he led Transamerica's transition from a holding company into a major diversified operating company. At one time, Transamerica owned a motion picture distributor, an airline, a car rental company and a machinery manufacturer, in addition to its insurance and financial services businesses.

In the mid-1980s, under the leadership of chairman James R. Harvey and president Frank C. Herringer, the corporation underwent a major restructuring, and returned to its roots in financial services. Transamerica acquired several financial services companies and sold other operations that were unrelated to its core businesses.

In the 1990's, under the leadership of chairman and chief executive officer Frank C. Herringer, Transamerica focused on its commitment to building shareholder value by being an industry leader in all of its principal businesses: life insurance, commercial lending, leasing and real estate services.

In July of 1999, Transamerica entered an important new chapter in its history when it became part of AEGON N.V., based in The Netherlands, one of the world's leading international insurance organizations. Donald J. Shepard is president and chief executive officer.