Richard W. Decker

Prior to founding Belvedere Capital in 1994, Mr. Decker was a partner in The Contrarian Group, which focuses on turning around undervalued and troubled companies by adding investment and operating management.
In 1993, Mr. Decker was one of the five founding Directors and Vice Chairman of Independent Bancorp of Arizona(Caliber Bank) in Phoenix, Arizona.
Prior to joining The Contrarian Group in 1990, Mr. Decker was President and CEO of WestAmerica Bank, a $1.5 billion asset, 35-branch community bank headquartered in Marin County, California.
From 1973 to 1988, Mr. Decker was with First Interstate Bank of California, a $20 billion bank (acquired by Wells Fargo), as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer reporting to the President and serving on the bank’s Managing Committee.
Mr. Decker started his banking career in 1970 with Chemical Bank in New York, London and Paris.
Mr. Decker is a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and is a member of the Board of Directors of Green Bancorp.
Mr. Decker is also a member of the Board of Directors of both the Harvard Business School Alumni Association and the Harvard Alumni Association in Boston, Massachusetts and is the past Chairman of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Northern California.
Mr. Decker earned his BS degree from Long Beach State University in 1967 and an MBA in 1969.
In 1970, he earned an additional graduate degree from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).
In addition, he completed the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at Stanford Business School and in 1986 completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School.