New President at Chase

Rumors of dissension in the board room, an exodus of top-level executives, and a decline in competitive vigor have rubbed some of the luster from David Rockefeller's Chase Manhattan Bank, the world's third largest. Last week Chairman Rockefeller made two related announcements. The bank's third-quarter earnings were down 10% from last year, to about $35 million. More surprisingly, President Herbert P. Patterson, 47, had resigned after scarcely three years in the $172,500-a-year job that he had reached after a 23-year career with Chase, his only employer. He was replaced by tough-minded Willard C. Butcher, 46, previously the vice chairman in charge of planning.

Butcher's promotion is an effort to bring fresh drive and decisiveness to Chase, which in recent years has been elbowed out of first place in deposits and earnings in New York City by First National City Bank. While Chase has emphasized services to corporations and other banks, "Citibank" has focused on the faster-growing international and retail business. To attract deposit and loan business from individuals and medium-sized companies, Citibank has generally done a better job than Chase in mortgage banking and other areas, like helping clients to arrange leases on almost anything from the biggest jetliner to the smallest auto.

Butcher, who joined the bank in 1947 after graduating magna cum laude from Brown, has much experience in areas where Chase could be stronger. He worked in retail banking as a branch manager and proved himself adept at foreign finance as chief of Chase's international division. Describing Butcher, Rockefeller used the words aggressive, decisive, dynamic, driving. The chairman himself likes to chart broad policy and leave day-to-day operations to other executives. Rockefeller, the bank's largest single shareholder, owns about 1% of Chase's stock, worth some $17 million; last year he collected more than $1,000,000 from Chase in salary, dividends and interest. Though he had high praise for his new right-hand man, Rockefeller, who looks younger than his 58 years, insisted that he would not be stepping down soon.

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