By Colin Kellaher
Wells Fargo said it plans to name Chief Executive Charlie Scharf to the additional post of chairman, rewarding the executive who led the bank back from a scandal involving the creation of millions of fake customer accounts.
Wells Fargo on Thursday said its board has also awarded Scharf a one-time special equity grant consisting of $30 million in restricted share rights and nearly 1.05 million stock options.
Wells Fargo said the actions reflect the board's desire to keep Scharf as CEO, a post he has held since joining in 2019, and to recognize his leadership in transforming the San Francisco bank as it worked to repair its reputation after the fake-accounts scandal erupted nearly a decade ago.
Scharf's efforts led to the termination of 13 consent orders during his tenure, culminating in last month's decision by the Federal Reserve to lift a restriction that capped the fourth-largest U.S. bank's assets at $2 trillion.
For the first time in seven years, Wells Fargo will be able to grow its balance sheet and redirect the resources it had been pouring into efforts to fix itself.
Steven Black, a Wells Fargo board member since April 2020, has been independent chairman since August 2021. The bank said the board plans to name a lead independent director to support its continued independent oversight after Scharf takes on the chairman post.
-Gina Heeb contributed to this article.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-31-25 1746ET
