BB&T's Objectivist CEO is Retiring

John Allison, 59, the Objectivist CEO of the BB&T bank, is retiring on December 31, 2008. Here's what he plans to do with his time:

. . . [Allison] plans to spend his retirement writing books about two of his passions: the role of values in effective leadership and the evolution of the financial system in the United States.

Allison already is the author of the BB&T Values, a 30-page handbook that outlines the company's 10 core principles, which include "reason" and "justice." As much philosopher as businessman, he spends a week each year at a philosophy conference and has long encouraged senior managers at BB&T to read a thoughtful, nonfiction book each month.

Allison also plans to work with colleges and universities participating in BB&T's Moral Foundations of Capitalism program, which provides grants for the study of the moral and intellectual underpinnings of capitalism and free enterprise.

Although the Forbes.com article does not mention it, Allison was also responsible for endowing a chair in philosophy for the study of Objectivism at the University of Texas at Austin (the inaugural holder of the chair is Tara Smith).

I, for one, can't wait to read any book he writes. Let's hope that BB&T's loss is Objectivism's gain.