Wells Fargo & Co.

From MarketsWiki

Wells Fargo & Co.
Founded	1852
Headquarters	San Francisco
Key People	President and CEO John Stumpf
Employees	160,900
Products	Diversified financial services
Web site	https://www.wellsfargo.com

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Wells Fargo is one of America's top-rated banks by both investment and employment analysts and currently ranks as the fifth-largest U.S. bank of its kind by assets. Wells Fargo recently became one of the few U.S. financial institutions to outperform expectations following the 2007 credit crunch.

History

Wells Fargo was formed in New York City in 1852 to operate banking and express delivery services in gold-rush California. By 1888, it was offering its famed 'ocean-to-ocean' service delivering valuable commodities across the continent via its iconic stagecoaches and pony express.^[1] Today Wells Fargo operates around 3,300 bank branches and about 3,400 consumer-finance outlets in the West and Midwest of the United States and is also an industry leader in insurance brokerage, mutual funds and online services.^[2]

Wells Fargo is currently one of the financial world's most admired American banks based on its excellent financial track record. It is ranked the world's 17th most-profitable corporation despite ranking 41st overall in revenue and has achieved the rare feat of increasing its dividend payment to shareholders for 20 consecutive years.^[3] Wells Fargo is also the only remaining U.S. bank to win a AAA rating from Moody's and Standard & Poor's and currently holds assets of $595 billion.

Products and Services

Wells Fargo is a diversified financial-services group best known for the following:

• Retail and business banking
• Mortgage lending and servicing
• Insurance brokerage
• Mutual funds and asset management
• Online banking and brokerage

Key People

John Stumpf was named Wells Fargo's CEO in June 2007 - succeeding his mentor, Richard M. Kovacevich^[4] - after serving as the bank's president since August 2005. Stumpf joined Wells Fargo when the company he began his career with in 1982, Minnesota-based Norwest Bank, was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1998. After the Norwest takeover he was appointed head of Wells Fargo's Southwestern Banking Group and two years later was made head of a newly expanded Western Banking Group, covering 10 states. Two more years later, in 2002, Stumpf was appointed group executive vice president of community banking. He began his career at Norwest Bank in Minneapolis as a loan administrator before advancing to position of regional president of Norwest Bank Texas, where he served from 1994 to 1998.

Latest news

Wells Fargo turned in record quarterly revenue and raised its dividend yet again despite a 21 percent profit fall due largely to the same credit losses hammering the entire banking sector.^[5] Despite being a major player in the residential mortgage and retail credit markets, Wells Fargo steered clear of the sub-prime lending and mortgage-backed securities that caused carnage in the financial industry in 2008.

References

1. ↑ Since 1852. Wells Fargo. Retrieved on August 7, 2008.
2. ↑ Wells Fargo & Company. Hoovers.com. Retrieved on August 7, 2008.
3. ↑ Wells Fargo Today: Company Overview. Wells Fargo. Retrieved on August 7, 2008.
4. ↑ John Stumpf bio. Marketplace. Retrieved on August 7, 2008.
5. ↑ 6 Recommendations. Motley Fool. Retrieved on August 7, 2008.