Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf can keep his chairmanship at least another year — and even then there might not be much mystery.
About 17% of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to separate the chairman and CEO roles at Wells, which was submitted by Denver investor Gerald Armstrong. It won't be known what portions of the rest voted against it or how many abstained until the bank files an 8-K later with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lara Palles, who spoke at Wells' annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., on behalf of Armstrong, pointed out that Wells was
-
The bank's top executives expressed confidence Thursday in their ability to address regulators' concerns about flaws in its resolution plan.
April 14 -
Wells Fargo has promoted Tim Sloan to president and chief operating officer, a move that likely puts him on a short list of candidates to succeed John Stumpf as chief executive.
November 17 -
Shareholders of JPMorgan Chase voted in favor of Jamie Dimon keeping the chairman and chief executive roles. They likely fear Dimon would retire if stripped of one of the jobs.
May 19
"Mr. Armstrong believes this is alarming," Palles said.
Palles also criticized Stumpf's service on the board of Target, citing the May 2014 termination of its former chairman and CEO, Gregg Steinhafel.
"If Stumpf could not see the weaknesses at Target, is he blind to it at Wells Fargo?" Palles said.
No other shareholders spoke in favor of the proposal.
Palles spoke before shareholders voted on the question. As soon as she stopped speaking to the audience, Stumpf told shareholders that "there are a number of inaccuracies in that statement, but we will address those later."
Stumpf did not specify what was inaccurate, and the company did not raise the issue again later in the meeting.
