Wells Fargo & Company, a leading global bank by market capitalization

Wells Fargo & Company (‘Wells Fargo’) is a multinational financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S.A., with assets totalling around $1.9 trillion Founded by Henry Wells and William George Fargo in 1852, the company was established to handle the banking and express business that came about as a result of the California Gold Rush. In California, the company was responsible for purchasing, selling, and transporting gold dust, bullion, specie, and various other goods that travelled by ship from the West Coast to the East Coast, with an overland journey across the Isthmus of Panama.

Over the next ten years, the company ventured into the staging business, which, by 1866 saw almost all Western stagecoach lines become consolidated under the Wells Fargo name. Although stage coaching eventually started to wane after the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, Wells Fargo continued to operate in regions where the railroads did not reach, with some services extending well into the early 20  century.  

As the years progressed, the company diversified its services, offering banking, transportation, and communications. By the late 19  and 20  centuries, Wells Fargo had established itself as a major player in the American financial sector.

Wells Fargo today

Today, the company offers a broad range of banking, investment, and mortgage products and services, along with consumer and commercial financing, across its four main operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management. In Fortune’s 2024 rankings of America’s largest corporations, Wells Fargo secured the No. 34 spot.

As of 31 December 2023, the company was the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets and held the third-highest market value of common stock among all U.S. banks. It also ranks among the top banks globally by market capitalisation. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol #WFC. As of 29 August 2024, Wells Fargo has a market capitalisation of $194.25 billion, with a revenue of $78.23 billion, and net income of $18.74 billion.

Sustainability highlights

Beyond its financial services, Wells Fargo is also committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community engagement. The company’s efforts focus on a range of issues, including affordable housing, small business development, financial education, and environmental sustainability. Key sustainability impact highlights include:

• Awarded a $7.5M grant to Habitat for Humanity International
• Donated $650M+ to help address housing access and affordability since 2019
• Provided Credit Builders Alliance a $1.5M grant to assist organisations serving credit insecure individuals
• Provided $8.3M in grants to strengthen the deployment of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) capital into low-income and disadvantaged communities
• Originated, committed, advised, or facilitated approximately $178B in sustainable finance
• Provided $2.4B in tax equity financing activities since 2021 for wind and solar projects
• Donated ~$23M in sustainability-focused grants to nonprofit organisations

Wells Fargo reports a 2^nd quarter 2024 net income of $4.9 billion, or $1.33 per diluted share.

More specifically, in the second quarter of 2024, Wells Fargo reported total revenue of $20.689 billion, a slight increase from $20.533 billion in the same quarter of 2023. The company’s noninterest expenses rose to $13.293 billion in Q2 2024, up from $12.987 billion in Q2 2023. The provision for credit losses decreased to $1.236 billion, compared to $1.713 billion in the previous year. Net income for the quarter was $4.910 billion, a small decline from the $4.938 billion reported in Q2 2023. Despite the drop in net income, diluted earnings per share increased to $1.33, up from $1.25 in Q2 2023.

Wells Fargo’s balance sheet for the second quarter of 2024 showed an average loan balance of $917.0 billion, down from $945.9 billion in the same period of 2023. Average deposits were relatively stable at $1.3465 trillion, compared to $1.3474 trillion in Q2 2023. The bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio improved to 11.0% in Q2 2024, up from 10.7% in the previous year.

2016 controversy; toxic sales culture

Following a series of newspaper and regulatory investigations in 2016, it was revealed that Wells Fargo had fostered a toxic sales culture, pressuring employees to sell unnecessary products to customers. This resulted in the creation of millions of unauthorised accounts, which significantly damaged the bank’s once immaculate reputation. In the wake of the scandal, Wells Fargo restructured its board of directors and management, paid over a billion dollars in fines and penalties, and spent eight years attempting to convince the public that its misconduct is a thing of the past.

On 15 February 2024, The Independent reported that, “The Biden Administration is easing its restrictions on banking giant Wells Fargo, saying the bank has sufficiently fixed its toxic culture after years of scandals”. The article further stated that, “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of big national banks like Wells, terminated its consent order on Thursday that had been in place since September 2016. The order required Wells to overhaul how it sold financial products to customers and provide additional consumer protections, as well as employee protections for whistleblowers.”

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