The giant company resulting from the planned merger of Norwest Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. will be run by a four-person "corporate office," the companies said Wednesday.
The four executives, who are to collaborate on all major decisions facing the company, are Norwest's Richard M. Kovacevich and Leslie S. Biller and Wells' Paul M. Hazen and Rodney L. Jacobs.
"Having the input and the experience of all four of us in making those decisions is going to be better than just having the decisions of one or two," said Mr. Kovacevich, chief executive officer of Norwest and the designated CEO of the merged company.
The arrangement reflects a growing trend among big financial institutions for top executives to share power. Chase Manhattan Corp.'s top two leaders, Walter V. Shipley and Thomas G. Labrecque, operate as "co- equal partners," and the planned merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group is to leave John S. Reed and Sanford I. Weill working as co-CEOs.
In the Norwest-Wells combination, Mr. Hazen, Wells' chief, is to serve as chairman of the merged company, and Mr. Biller and Mr. Jacobs are to be vice chairmen. Mr. Biller also will be chief operating officer, and Mr. Jacobs will be chief financial officer.
"Les will work to ensure that we effectively integrate all business units," Mr. Kovacevich said in a prepared statement. "Rod will work directly with Les and the businesses on the effective integration, conversion, and transition of all systems, operations, and technology departments," he added.
The companies unveiled the arrangement while making their fullest disclosures yet about executive appointments for the merged company, which would keep the Wells name. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, creating a $186 billion-asset company operating in 50 states and overseas.
In all, 23 appointments were announced-10 executives from Wells, 13 from Norwest.
"It's a pretty good mix of talent from both companies, so it really is a merger of equals," said Joseph K. Morford 3d, an analyst at Van Kasper & Co., San Francisco.
Six of the nine group executive vice presidents are from Norwest, including John Berg, heading up the central states banking group, and Jim Campbell for the Minnesota banking group. Terri Dial from Wells is to be responsible for California, business banking, telephone banking, and distribution strategy. John Nelson and John Stumpf, both of Norwest, are to run the eight-state western banking group and Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, respectively.
Meanwhile, Wells' Dave Hoyt will head commercial real estate and wholesale banking, Norwest's Mark Oman will the run mortgage and home equity group as well as corporate trust, and Wells Fargo's Clyde Ostler will head up investments. Norwest's Ken Murray will lead the diversified financial group, which includes student loans, insurance, auto finance, and Small Business Administration guaranteed loans.
Executive vice presidents named from Wells are: Pat Callahan, human resources; Mike James, business banking; Dennis Mooradian, personal trust and investments, private client services, and brokerage; Lucy Reid, consumer banking; and Paul Watson, commercial and corporate banking groups.
Executive vice presidents named from Norwest are: Webb Edwards, technology and operations; Tom Emerson, chief auditor and examiner; John Ganoe, corporate development; Cindy Gray, marketing; and Stan Stroup, general counsel.
