Finance · Profile from Finance Research Companion
Wells Fargo & Company
The stagecoach brand turned America's most-admired retail bank, built by Norwest's Dick Kovacevich on the doctrine of cross-selling, enlarged by the 2008 rescue purchase of Wachovia, and then disgraced when that same sales culture produced millions of accounts customers never asked for. The scandal broke in September 2016; in February 2018 the Federal Reserve capped the bank's total assets at their end-2017 level of ~$1.95tn, an unprecedented penalty that lasted until June 3, 2025. Under Charlie Scharf (CEO since October 2019) Wells cut costs, closed fourteen consent orders (the last in March 2026, reported) and returned to growth. By Q3 2026 it had ~$2.25tn of assets and a ROTCE of ~16%, with a target of 17–18%.
At a glance
- Founded
- Wells, Fargo & Co. founded March 1852 by Henry Wells and William Fargo (San Francisco office opened July 1852); modern company formed by the Norwest–Wells Fargo merger completed November 1998
- Founders / builders
- Henry Wells and William Fargo; Carl Reichardt and Paul Hazen (Wells Fargo, 1980s–90s); Richard Kovacevich (Norwest CEO from 1993; Wells Fargo CEO 1998–2007); John Stumpf (CEO 2007–2016)
- Headquarters
- San Francisco (corporate headquarters); large hubs in Charlotte, New York (where much senior management sits since 2020), Minneapolis and Des Moines
- Ownership / structure
- Public, NYSE: WFC; financial holding company; main bank Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; US G-SIB
- Leadership (2026)
- Charles W. Scharf, CEO since October 21, 2019 and chairman since 2025 (reported); lead independent director created at the same time; CFO Mike Santomassimo (verify)
- Segment
- US universal bank: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, Wealth and Investment Management
- Scale
- Total assets ~$2.25tn, loans ~$1.05tn, deposits ~$1.50tn and wealth client assets ~$2.74tn at September 30, 2026; ~194,000 employees (down from ~275,000 in 2019); ~4,000+ branches and ~70m customers (verify)
- Revenue and profit
- 2024: revenue ~$82.3bn and net income ~$19.7bn (verify). 2025: net income ~$21.3bn (+8%), diluted EPS +17%, ROTCE ~15%. Q3 2026: revenue $21.9bn (+2%), net income $5.95bn, EPS $1.87, ROTCE 16.3%, CET1 10.0%, efficiency ratio 63% (company results)
- Major penalties
- $185m (September 2016, CFPB/OCC/LA City Attorney); $1bn (April 2018, CFPB/OCC); Fed asset cap (February 2, 2018 – June 3, 2025); $3bn (February 2020, DOJ/SEC); $250m (OCC, September 2021); $3.7bn (December 2022, CFPB: ~$2bn redress plus $1.7bn penalty)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Norwest merger and the cross-sell culture (1998); Wachovia acquisition (2008); fake-accounts scandal (2016); Fed asset cap (2018); $3bn DOJ/SEC settlement (2020); Scharf turnaround (2019–); $3.7bn CFPB settlement (2022); mortgage retreat (2023); asset cap lifted (2025)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1998
Norwest Wells Fargo Merger
Merger
2008
Wachovia Acquisition
Acquisition (distressed, contested)
2016
Fake Accounts Scandal
Regulatory settlement / conduct failure
2018
Fed Asset Cap
Regulatory sanction (consent order with growth restriction)
2019
Scharf Turnaround
Restructuring (leadership change and multi-year turnaround)
2020
DOJ SEC 3bn Settlement
Regulatory settlement (criminal and civil)
2022
CFPB 3 7bn Settlement
Regulatory settlement
2023
Mortgage Retreat
Pivot / divestiture (strategic retreat from a business line)
2025
Asset Cap Lifted
Regulatory milestone (removal of growth restriction)