No. 6 — Spencer Eccles

Spencer Eccles, 66, has already announced the end of his long career in banking, saying he will step out of formal roles with Wells Fargo bank a year from now.

But it's unlikely Eccles will disappear from the Utah scene then. His family has long been involved in Utah's financial and charitable establishments. For years Eccles was known not only as the chairman, president and CEO of First Security Corp. — Utah's largest financial institution — but for the many civic and charitable committees on which he served.

A dozen Eccles foundations give generously, and Eccles himself sits on six family foundation boards.

Eccles said he doesn't consider himself a powerful person. But he and his family do care deeply about "the quality of life of all Utahns. And if that lifelong commitment" is seen by others as power and influence, "so be it."

For 42 years of his professional life, Eccles said he's tried to "work with groups and people, wherever I find leadership, to use my time, my ethics, my resources and those of organizations that I represent" to better the lives of those around him.

Most recently, the Eccleses gave $2 million to construct a foot bridge across Wasatch Drive on the University of Utah's upper campus to connect the lower, main campus with the medical center and the old Fort Douglas, home of a number of Olympic athletes during the 2002 Games.

Eccles has long been an Olympic booster, and he sits on the executive board of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

Recently, Eccles oversaw the merger between First Security — his family run bank — and Wells Fargo.

That deal was just completed, and the First Security name was removed from bank buildings across the state just weeks ago — erasing one of the best-known local business titles in Utah's history.

Eccles usually works on non-controversial initiatives around the state. But in 1997 Eccles and a group of other downtown businessmen opposed locating the TRAX light rail lines on Main Street.

The Utah Transit Authority and Salt Lake City Council decided to go ahead with the Main Street tracks anyway. Eccles' group even took the issue to court, but the state Supreme Court ruled against them.

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