Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

I thought Charlie was The Golden Boy at JPM.

An old story, but I wasn’t aware Charlie was demoted at Chase. I also read news stories about Chase acquiring Washington Mutual as being “Charlie’s baby.” Chase was haunted for nearly 10 years with WAMU’s bad loans, which is probably why Jamie moved Charlie to a less senior role.

J.P. Morgan Overhauls Management
A Longtime Lieutenant to CEO James Dimon Is Replaced at the Retail Bank
By Dan Fitzpatrick
June 15, 2011

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. boss James Dimon replaced longtime lieutenant Charles Scharf, who oversaw a large retail-banking and mortgage unit that is still reeling from the U.S. housing crisis.

The decision to move Mr. Scharf, who first began working for Mr. Dimon more than two decades ago, to a less senior role is part of a management shakeup that also includes the planned retirement of Heidi Miller, another of Mr. Dimon's longtime allies. Although Mr. Scharf is joining the bank's small private-equity arm, analysts say he is now an unlikely successor to the 55-year-old Mr. Dimon, who has served as chief executive since 2005.

Mr. Scharf, 46, had been considered one of the leading candidates as the head of J.P. Morgan's huge retail bank—a division that produced 30% of the bank's revenue in 2010. He will no longer be a member of the bank's operating committee, the company's top decision-making body.

"Going from running the [retail bank] to being a partner in their private investment arm, most people would say on the surface it looks like a lateral to a downtick move," said Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets. "Certainly that would not help" his chances of succeeding Mr. Dimon, Mr. Cassidy added.

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Post ID: @OP+1hU59LxE

10 replies (most recent on top)

Charlie was seen as one of the d-mbest and most inept “leaders” at Chase. He’s just like the as-----s from GE and Home Depot who failed when actually put in a leader role. (Like many of our RBPs and other so called leaders.)
Charlie doesn’t know his a-s from a ho-e in the ground. But he knows how to cheat.

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Post ID: @4daf+1hU59LxE

No one wanted to take the job besides him so the regulators and board allowed him to take it. They are to blame.

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Post ID: @1hos+1hU59LxE

They are all Chase failed leadership folks. They failed with their not so bright ideas there and yet they brought them here.

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Post ID: @1fhe+1hU59LxE

Article does not exactly inspire confidence in us pertaining to our fearless leader, now does it?

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Post ID: @1nys+1hU59LxE

And, then there is this -

Warren Buffet sold his remaining stakes in Wells Fargo. Not only did he not approve of Scharf, but running the SF headquarters out of New York was also an issue for him.

The exit of Buffet comes as Charlie Scharf, the chief executive officer of Wells Fargo, continues grappling with legacy regulatory issues and is taking measures to improve efficiency, including a cut in jobs and exploration of prospective sales of the business. The shares of the San Francisco-based bank have dropped by about 12% in the current year.

Bloomberg News reports that Buffet had urged the board of Wells Fargo publicly not to recruit a leader from Wall Street. Although Scharf boasts of a track record of managing consumer-faced businesses and enhancing with technology, his resume features time he spent at JP Morgan Chase & Co, the securities industry giant, and the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Scharf has also struck an agreement to operate from New York instead of the headquarters of San Francisco, which is a move that has been called by the business partner of Buffet, Charlie Munger, “outrageous”.

RTO hypocrisy...

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Post ID: @vef+1hU59LxE

It should have been a career ki----g move at Chase bank but this nasty piece of work got to be CEO. It just shows the regulates and board of directors were and are incompetent.

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Post ID: @kuk+1hU59LxE

Post ID: @wmo+1hU59LxE

Yes that is true. But Charlie had been hot on acquiring WAMU for several years before the financial crisis, was in charge of the team that analyzed WAMU’s portfolio for the acquisition (which led to years of lawsuits and large losses due to the portfolio of troubled loans), and Charlie was in charge of the integration.

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Post ID: @bas+1hU59LxE

Wells Fargo needs a new Leadership team.

If I were a major shareholder, I would be leading the charge to replace WFC’s BOD and CEO. Their sluggishness and ineffectiveness are hiding in plain sight.

The company line that “Charlie was the only person who would accept the job” isn’t the whole story. Charlie was the only executive who was opportunistic enough and unprincipled enough to accept the job under the unconscionable terms the Board laid out, as long as there was enough money in it for him.

It would be interesting to know if there were any top- notch executives who were turned down for the job because they wanted to rebuild WFC’s reputation, invest in technology, hire the talent needed to quickly get us out from under the asset cap, be innovative, lead by example, strive for excellence, build a healthy company for the long-term etc.

The BOD’s and Charlie’s plans to slash and burn with the only goal being to get the stock’s price up is an obvious utter failure. It’s time for change.

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Post ID: @zis+1hU59LxE

I'd argue though that the US Government kind of forced JPM to buy WaMu. Still doesn't excuse Scharf's demotion.

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Post ID: @wmo+1hU59LxE

Wells Fargo has loaded up on rejecutives.

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Post ID: @abq+1hU59LxE

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