Wells Fargo announces leadership structure

By Richard Craver
Media General News Service
Published: November 14, 2008

Winston-Salem, N.C. - Wells Fargo & Co., as expected, has placed its personnel into most of the top executive positions of the bank it is forming with Wachovia Corp.

In a memo sent to employees by John Stumpf, the chief executive of Wells Fargo, only one Wachovia executive was named to the top 11 management positions that report to Stumpf.

David Carroll, the head of Wachovia’s capital-management division, was placed in charge of wealth management, brokerage and retirement services. That could be a key appointment for local Wachovia operations since there are 600 wealth-management jobs among the 2,900 jobs here.

“I want to assure all team members that we’re making these decisions thoughtfully and deliberately, understanding every geography, business and function, respecting organizational differences,“ Stumpf said.

The Charlotte Observer reported that, according to another memo, at least five top Wachovia executives will be leaving the bank after the merger is completed.

They include Ben Jenkins, the head of the general bank, Steve Cummings, the president of corporate and investment banking, David Zwiener, chief financial officer, and Jane Sherburne, its general counsel. Robert Steel, the chief executive of Wachovia, said shortly after Wells Fargo trumped Citigroup Inc.‘s bid for Wachovia that he would not stay with the merged bank.

Richard Craver writes for the Winston-Salem Journal.