ALLY TALLY.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: STATEWIDE: Charlotte

Ally Financial's plan to lease 400,000 square feet in Charlotte's newest office tower is the latest chapter in an amazing comeback story. Ally, which had been GMAC--General Motors' auto-finance arm--since 1919, got $17 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, in 2008. Its entry into mortgage lending with a company called Residential Capital, meant to supplement its lucrative auto business, nearly sunk GMAC when the housing market collapsed in 2007. Former Bank of America executive Alvaro de Molina became Ally's CEO in 2008 and, during his 19-month tenure, built a Charlotte office that now numbers 1,700. De Molina's protege, Jeff Brown, became CEO in 2015 and has led expansions in wealth management, credit cards and home loans. He lives and works in Charlotte, though the company's official headquarters remains in Detroit.

Annual profit averaging $1.1 billion in the last three years hasn't impressed investors: Ally stock has underperformed its peer group and the overall market since the company's January 2014 initial public offering. Still, share prices increased almost 30% this year through early October as the federal government OK'd plans for a 50%...