Longtime Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) executive David Carroll will retire from his role as head of wealth and investment management next month, saying on Thursday he is leaving because he wants to pursue “another chapter in my life.”
) executive David Carroll will retire from his role as head of wealth and investment management next month, saying on Thursday he is leaving because he wants to pursue “another chapter in my life.”
His departure after 38 years with Wells Fargo or its predecessor comes as the third-largest U.S. bank is trying to recover from a sales scandal that has tarnished its once-pristine reputation, and months after Wells named a new chief executive, limiting opportunities for other members of its leadership team.
Carroll, 60, will be replaced by Jonathan Weiss, 59, who currently heads Wells Fargo’s investment banking business, the bank said. Carroll’s retirement is effective July 1, but he will remain with the company until July 31 to make sure the transition goes smoothly.
Perry Pelos, who heads the wholesale banking business, expects to announce plans for the Wells Fargo Securities business before Weiss changes jobs.
Reached at his office, Carroll said he was simply ready to retire. He noted that the businesses he ran were bigger than most U.S. companies and characterized his career as “fulfilling, large and eventful.”
“This is a personal decision to kind of get on with another chapter of my life,” he said. “I turned 60 a month ago and it’s as simple as that.”
At a conference on Thursday, Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan noted Carroll’s role in combining the wealth and investment management businesses of Wells Fargo and Wachovia, after the two banks merged in 2009. Carroll came to Wells Fargo through that merger, having joined Wachovia Bank & Trust Company in 1979.
Sloan also praised “steady growth” in revenue and improved profit margins the wealth and investment management unit experienced under Carroll’s leadership, but noted that the business remains small relative to the rest of Wells Fargo.
Last year, the combined business delivered $15.9 billion in revenue and $2.4 billion in profit, up from $11.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion in profit from a comparable unit in 2010. That represented 18 percent of 2016 revenue and 11 percent of net income.
“He’s had just an incredible career at the company,” said Sloan. “He will definitely be missed. He’s a good friend and colleague.”
Wells Fargo spokeswoman Kathleen Leary declined to elaborate on reasons for Carroll’s departure other than saying he was “ready for new challenges.”
Weiss also joined Wells Fargo from Wachovia and was appointed to his current role in 2014. He will remain based in New York and report to Sloan. He will also join the company’s operating committee.
The announcement of Carroll’s retirement comes two days after the lender made executive changes in its retail banking business, which was hit by the sales scandal last year involving the creation of as many as 2.1 million phony accounts in customers’ names without their permission.
The problems led to a $190 million regulatory settlement, other government probes, the firing of several bankers, the departure of Sloan’s predecessor, John Stumpf, and shareholders offering scant support for most directors at the bank’s annual meeting last month.
Wells Fargo has said it is not aware of the sales abuses extending to the business overseen by Carroll.
The San Francisco-based bank’s stock, which had fallen 7.2 percent this year through Wednesday’s close, was little changed in early trading.
(Reporting by Dan Freed in New York- Additional reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru- Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra- Editing by Sweta Singh, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Frances Kerry)
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