Bank of Granite: one runs, no fits, no heirs.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler

John Forlines is in foul humor. The normally genial 86-year-old chairman and chief executive of Granite Falls-based Bank of Granite Corp. has to deal again with the succession question. "We are not necessarily looking into that every day," he snaps. "We figure that will take care of itself in time."

Observers thought it already had been taken care of, most recently in July 2003. That's when the bank, which has been praised by super investor Warren Buffett, acquired Charlotte-based First Commerce Corp. Wes Sturges, then the First Commerce president and CEO, became executive vice president of Bank of Granite and was widely considered Forlines' successor.

In fact, documents the bank filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission state that it "has been concerned with management succession, and having Wes Sturges join the management team will enable Bank of Granite to address this issue." Sturges' employment contract, which set his salary at $200,000 a year, stated that he would be made president and chief operating officer by July 2005.

But uneasy lies the head that awaits Bank of Granite's crown. In 1996, David Clark, then 39, was widely considered the choice to step in for Forlines when he was recruited from Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corp. He left abruptly that year for a job as COO of WSMP Inc., a Claremont-based steakhouse operator and food processor. In early February, Sturges, 54, left even more abruptly. He didn't have a job.

Forlines won't discuss it, but the bank announced...