Wells Fargo chair says Sloan has board's 'unanimous support'

Wells Fargo’s board of directors is denying reports that it has considered replacing CEO Tim Sloan.

Board chair Elizabeth “Betsy” Duke said in a statement late Wednesday that Sloan has the board’s full support and that she and other directors have not reached out to potential CEO candidates.

Her comments came in response to an anonymously sourced story published Wednesday in the New York Post, which sparked speculation about Sloan’s job security.

The article asserted that members of Wells Fargo’s board reached out to Gary Cohn about the CEO job earlier this year, but were rebuffed.

Elizabeth Duke, former governor of the Federal Reserve and current member of Wells Fargo’s board.
Elizabeth A. Duke, member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, testifies to the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee about mortgage and foreclosure servicing in Washington, D.C., U.S., Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
JOSHUA ROBERTS/Bloomberg

Cohn was the president and chief operating officer at Goldman Sachs prior to a 14-month stint at President Trump’s chief economic adviser.

“Rumors that Wells Fargo’s Board of Directors reached out to potential CEO candidates are completely false,” Duke said in a statement. “CEO Tim Sloan has the unanimous support of the board, and this support has never wavered. In his two years as CEO, Tim has driven significant transformational change at Wells Fargo, which is benefitting all stakeholders.”

In the New York Post article, Cohn denied that he is currently in talks with Wells Fargo.

Sloan, a 31-year veteran at Wells Fargo, has been the firm’s chief executive since October 2016. He took over from longtime CEO John Stumpf, who departed amid the furor over widespread employee misconduct at the $1.9 trillion-asset bank.

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C-suite Corporate governance Tim Sloan Gary Cohn Wells Fargo
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