Joseph W. Saunders, the former chairman and CEO who took Visa public in what was then the largest initial public offering in U.S. history, died Nov. 2, according to an official obituary. He was 81.

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Saunders became chairman and CEO of Visa Inc. in May 2007. He oversaw the company’s shift from a private association of financial institutions into a publicly traded corporation. Visa completed its IPO in 2008. Saunders then guided the company’s expansion into digital payments before he retired in March 2013.

His career in financial services began at Household Credit Services, which he built into an $18 billion business. There he was best known for launching the GM Card, the largest co-branded credit card. He later served as chairman and CEO of Providian Financial Corp. and Fleet Credit Card Services. In 1996, he was chairman of MasterCard International’s board of directors.

After leaving Visa, Saunders stayed active in investing. He was a special adviser to Reverence Capital Partners and chairman and general partner of Green Visor Capital.

A Chicago native, Saunders earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA from the University of Denver. The university awarded him an honorary doctorate in business in 2009, and he later sat on its board of trustees. In 2018, he and his wife, Sharon, set up the Saunders Leadership Academy Endowed Scholarship Fund at DU. The fund offers scholarships, mentoring and leadership training to students with significant financial need, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college.

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