Guess how Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf got his start. He was a REPO MAN.
From a May 5, 2012 “CEO Spotlight” in Barron’s, by Lawrence C. Strauss (worth reading):
1976, fresh out of college, Stumpf went to work for a Minnesota bank tracking down and repossessing cars, jewelry, washer-dryers, and just about anything else with past-due payments.
Fast forward to Elizabeth Warren’s grilling of Stumpf in the Senate on September 20, 2016. You have no doubt seen clips from this, please watch the whole 17-minute session. The back story is the understanding of “cross-selling”. Here’s Barron’s again:
Stumpf ... says there's still plenty of opportunity in domestic retail banking, thanks mainly to an aggressive cross-selling strategy—selling more and more products to existing customers. (my bold — jl)
What got me started this morning was a line from a Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) email solicitation. The pitch for Warren is pretty good. The PCCC letter ended with this citation of Hillary Clinton:
P.S. Of note, Hillary Clinton tag teamed with Warren yesterday, calling for accountability for Wells Fargo. Here's an excerpt of Clinton's statement:
Wells Fargo had engaged in widespread illegal practices over many years. The bank secretly opened up millions of accounts for customers without their consent -- betraying their customers, mis-using their personal information and leading many to be slapped with unjust fees and other charges...There is simply no place for this kind of outrageous behavior in America...I have a plan to address it.
First, we need to defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and Wall Street lobbyists are desperate to dismantle this effective agency.
Second, we need real consequences when firms on Wall Street break the law...I've put forward an agenda to enhance accountability on Wall Street. Executives should be held individually accountable when rampant illegal activity happens on their watch. Their compensation should take a hit if their companies pay major fines. And they must face appropriate legal consequences if they break the law.
Third, we need to make sure that no financial institution is too big to manage...And if any bank can't be managed effectively, it should be broken up.
I'll appoint regulators who will stand with taxpayers and consumers, not with big banks and their friends in Congress.
Of course, I’m happy to see Clinton’s support, such as it is. She says she has a plan, but it is verbose and measured. I gotta ask myself, though, why can’t she just say that we can’t allow banks to become “too big to fail” and that no executive can be “too big to jail”?
Does she not want to make news? It seems she misses one opportunity after another. I guess it is the campaign strategy. I’m just a Democrat hoping for a landslide, hoping that by election day we will see her EARNING THE MEDIA ATTENTION that is going to Trump by default.