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Wells Fargo Capital II history
Wells Fargo Capital II company history timeline
In 1849 a new rival, John Butterfield, founder of Butterfield, Wasson & Company, entered the express business.
On March 18, 1852, our founders—Henry Wells and William G. Fargo—built an innovative start-up to help customers build businesses and manage money in a rapidly changing world.
1852: Henry Wells and William G. Fargo form Wells, Fargo & Company to provide express and banking services to California.
The immediate challenge facing Morgan and Danforth N. Barney, who became president in 1853, was to establish the company in two highly competitive fields under conditions of rapid growth and unpredictable change.
Overland Mail was organized in 1857 by men with substantial interests in four of the leading express companies--American Express, United States Express, Adams Express, and Wells Fargo.
1860: Wells Fargo gains control of Butterfield Overland Mail Company, leading to operation of the western portion of the Pony Express.
1866: “Grand consolidation” unites Wells Fargo, Holladay, and Overland Mail stage lines under the Wells Fargo name.
Wells Fargo, however, did not acquire ownership of the company until the consolidation of 1866.
A showdown between the two transportation giants in late 1866 resulted in Wells Fargo's purchase of Holladay's operations.
Ashbel H. Barney, Danforth Barney's brother and cofounder of United States Express Company, replaced McLane as president in 1868.
In 1885 Wells Fargo also began selling money orders.
Wells Fargo had long been interested in acquiring First Interstate, whose origins began with the founding in 1904 of the Bank of Italy in San Francisco by A.P. Giannini.
1905: Wells Fargo separates its banking and express operations; Wells Fargo’s bank is merged with the Nevada National Bank to form the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank.
In April 1906 the San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed most of the city's business district, including the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank building.
The Panic of 1907, begun in New York in October, followed on the heels of this frenetic reconstruction period.
1923: Wells Fargo Nevada merges with the Union Trust Company to form the Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Company.
Banco was one of three major banks (the others being First Bank System and First Interstate Bancorp) that was allowed to conduct interstate banking under a grandfather clause in the 1927 act.
1928: Giannini forms Transamerica Corporation as a holding company for his banking and other interests.
1929: Northwest Bancorporation is formed as a banking association.
Another 90 banks joined Banco in its first year of operation and by 1932 there were 139 affiliates.
Following the collapse of the banking system in 1933, the company was able to extend immediate and substantial help to its troubled correspondents.
1954: Wells Fargo & Union Trust shortens its name to Wells Fargo Bank.
In 1954 the name of the bank was shortened to Wells Fargo Bank, to capitalize on frontier imagery and in preparation for further expansion.
The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 placed new restrictions on companies such as Transamerica.
1960: Wells Fargo merges with American Trust Company to form the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company.
1962: Wells Fargo American Trust again shortens its name to Wells Fargo Bank.
In November 1966, Wells Fargo's board of directors elected Richard P. Cooley president and CEO. At 42, Cooley was one of the youngest men to head a major bank.
In 1967 Wells Fargo, together with three other California banks, introduced a Master Charge card (now MasterCard) to its customers as part of its plan to challenge Bank of America in the consumer lending business.
Stephen Chase, who planned to retire in January 1968, became chairman.
The charter conversion was completed August 15, 1968, with the bank renamed Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. The bank successfully completed a number of acquisitions during 1968 as well.
In 1968 Wells Fargo changed from a state to a federal banking charter, in part so that it could set up subsidiaries for businesses such as equipment leasing and credit cards rather than having to create special divisions within the bank.
1969: Wells Fargo & Company holding company is formed, with Wells Fargo Bank as its main subsidiary.
Wells Fargo's loans to businesses increased dramatically after 1971.
In 1973 a tighter monetary policy made this arrangement less profitable, but Wells Fargo saw an opportunity in the new interest limits on passbook savings.
Unfavorable exchange rates hit Wells Fargo for another $2 million in 1975.
The troubles actually began in late 1979 when Richard H. Vaughan, the president and CEO, died by electrocution when he touched an electrical wire that had fallen during a storm.
In 1980 Richard Cooley, now chairman of the holding company, told Fortune, 'It's time to slow down.
In June 1981 the company changed its name to First Interstate Bancorp.
In 1981 the banking community was shocked by the news of a $21.3 million embezzlement scheme by a Wells Fargo employee, one of the largest embezzlements ever.
1982: Northwest Bancorporation acquires consumer finance firm Dial Finance which is renamed Norwest Financial Service the following year.
While these restructuring initiatives were being carried out, the bank suffered another blow during the 1982 Thanksgiving weekend when the downtown Minneapolis headquarters burned to the ground.
In January 1983, Carl Reichardt became chairman and CEO of the holding company and of Wells Fargo Bank.
1983: Largest United States bank heist to date takes place at a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut.
1983: Northwest Bancorporation is renamed Norwest Corporation.
He also began seeking acquisitions, particularly aiming to bolster Norwest's presence in key cities; in 1986, for example, Norwest acquired Toy National Bank of Sioux City, Iowa, which had assets of $145 million.
In 1986, Wells Fargo purchased rival Crocker National Corporation from Britain's Midland Bank for about $1.1 billion.
1987: Wells Fargo acquires the personal trust business of Bank of America.
In 1987, Wells Fargo set aside large reserves to cover potential losses on its Latin American loans, most notably to Brazil and Mexico.
1988: Wells Fargo acquires Barclays Bank of California from Barclays plc.
Net income stood at $237 million for 1989.
In early 1989 Wells Fargo expanded into full-service brokerage and launched a joint venture with the Japanese company Nikko Securities called Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors.
Also in 1989, the company divested itself of its last international offices, further tightening its focus on domestic commercial and consumer banking activities.
In April 1990 Norwest paid $173 million for Sheboygan-based First Interstate of Wisconsin, a $2 billion concern.
By early 1991 Norwest had 291 bank branches in 11 states, having moved into Indiana, Illinois, and Wyoming.
At the end of 1994, after 12 years of service during which Wells Fargo & Co. investors enjoyed a 1,781 percent return, Reichardt stepped aside as head of the company.
1995: Wells Fargo becomes the first major financial services firm to offer Internet banking.
By early 1995 substantial portions of Norwest Mortgage were divested, including operations involved in servicing mortgages and buying mortgages from other lenders for resale.
But First Bank ran into regulatory difficulties with the way it had structured its offer and was forced to bow out of the takeover battle in mid-January 1996.
Net income had reached $1.35 billion by 1997.
1998: Wells Fargo Bank merges with Norwest Corp. of Minneapolis.
In October 2000 Wells Fargo made its largest deal since the Norwest-Wells Fargo merger when it paid nearly $3 billion in stock for First Security Corporation, a $23 billion bank holding company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and operating in seven western states.
On October 3, 2008, Wachovia agreed to be bought by Wells Fargo for about $14.8B in an all-stock transaction.
On October 28, 2008, Wells Fargo was the recipient of $25B of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Federal bail-out in the form of a preferred stock purchase.
As part of the redemption of the preferred stock, Wells Fargo also paid accrued dividends of $131.9 million, bringing the total dividends paid to the United States Treasury and United States taxpayers to $1.441 billion since the preferred stock was issued in October 2008.
Wells Fargo operates under Charter #1, the first national bank charter issued in the United States. Thus, the first charter passed from First National Bank of Philadelphia to Wells Fargo through its 2008 acquisition of Wachovia, which in turn had inherited it through one of its many acquisitions.
On May 11, 2009 Wells Fargo announced an additional stock offering which was completed on May 13, 2009 raising $8.6 billion in capital.
Through 2019, OFN’s network originated $82.7 billion in financing in rural, urban, and Native communities.
30 on Fortune’s 2020 rankings of America’s largest corporations.
Through May 31, 2021, the Open for Business Fund is projected to reach roughly 35,000 small businesses, helping them keep nearly 90,000 jobs.
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