Southside Bank Announces Retirement of Chief Executive Officer, Lee Gibson, Appoints Keith Donahoe as Successor

TYLER, Texas, Sept. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Southside Bancshares, Inc. (the “Company”) and Southside Bank (the “Bank”), a subsidiary of the Company, has announced the upcoming retirement of Lee Gibson, Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and director of the Company and the Bank, effective December 31, 2025. Mr. Gibson will continue as a director of the Company and the Bank. Succeeding him as CEO upon his retirement is Keith Donahoe, current President of the Company and the Bank, who has over 30 years of banking experience.

“It goes without saying that Lee has been a vital part of this organization’s success over the last 40-plus years,” said Jay Shands, Chairman of the Board of Southside Bank and Southside Bancshares, Inc. “Starting his career with Southside in 1984, Lee has had a front row seat to a vibrant and often tempestuous economic climate, all while leading with a steady hand and providing strong leadership and guidance to the Board and his fellow colleagues. His strong fiscal knowledge and prudent strategies have propelled Southside as one of the leading banks in Texas with a solid framework.”

Gibson began his career with Southside Bank in 1984 and has served as CEO since 2017. Southside, which began with just one location on the “southside” of Tyler, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and operates 53 branches across the state of Texas. Gibson has left a significant mark throughout his impressive career, serving on numerous local, state, and national boards.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and the Southside team,” said Shands, “I am forever grateful for Lee’s contributions to Southside and wish him well in his next chapter, and I look forward to Southside continuing to excel and grow under Keith’s leadership.”

Mr. Donahoe has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry and has served as President of Southside since May 2024, overseeing various company-wide functions including credit and commercial lending activities, as well as information technology and bank operations. Upon joining Southside Bank in 2021, he first served as Austin Market President and later as Central Texas Regional President. Prior to joining Southside, he was with Frost Bank, a regional bank in Texas for 26 years, of which he served the last 10 years as an Executive Vice President.

About Southside

Southside Bancshares, Inc., holding company of Southside Bank, is headquartered in Tyler, Texas, with approximately $8.34 billion in assets as of June 30, 2025. Southside currently operates 53 branches and a network of 71 ATMs/ITMs throughout East Texas, Southeast Texas, and the greater Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston areas. Serving customers since 1960, Southside Bank is a community-focused financial institution that offers a full range of financial products and services to individuals and businesses.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements of other than historical fact that are contained in this press release and in other written materials, documents and oral statements issued by or on behalf of the Company may be considered to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of and subject to the safe harbor protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, nor should they be relied upon as representing management’s views as of any subsequent date. These statements may include words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “anticipate,” “appear,” “believe,” “could,” “should,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “would,” “seek,” “intend,” “probability,” “risk,” “goal,” “target,” “objective,” “plans,” “potential,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are statements with respect to the Company’s beliefs, plans, expectations, objectives, goals, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions and future performance and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. For example, benefits of the Share Repurchase Plan, trends in asset quality, capital, liquidity, the Company's ability to sell nonperforming assets, expense reductions, planned operational efficiencies and earnings from growth and certain market risk disclosures, including the impact of interest rates and our expectations regarding rate changes, tax reform, inflation, tariffs, the impacts related to or resulting from other economic factors are based upon information presently available to management and are dependent on choices about key model characteristics and assumptions and are subject to various limitations. By their nature, certain of the market risk disclosures are only estimates and could be materially different from what actually occurs in the future. Accordingly, our results could materially differ from those that have been estimated. The most significant factor that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated by our forward-looking statements include the ongoing impact of higher inflation levels, interest rate fluctuations, including the impact of changes in interest rates on our financial projections, models and guidance, and general economic and recessionary concerns, as well as the effects of declines in the real estate market, tariffs or trade wars (including reduced consumer spending, lower economic growth or recession, reduced demand for U.S. exports, disruptions to supply chains, and decreased demand for other banking products and services), high unemployment and increasing insurance costs, as well as the financial stress to borrowers as a result of the foregoing, all of which could impact economic growth and could cause a reduction in financial transactions and business activities, including decreased deposits and reduced loan originations, and our ability to manage liquidity in a rapidly changing and unpredictable market.

Additional information concerning the Company and its business, including additional factors that could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, under “Part I - Item 1. Forward Looking Information” and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors” and in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any factors or to announce publicly the result of revisions to any of the forward-looking statements included herein to reflect future events or developments.

Contact: Steven Campbell
steven.campbell@southside.com