I want to like Saul, I really do. He seems genuine and authentic. I also appreciate the sharing of family photos, but is he out of touch by sharing photos of his vacation while his workforce is getting slashed just before the holiday season? It just seems wrong and narcissistic no matter how well intentioned.
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We have the best compensation in the industry. If a vacation is hard to purchase, a week on porchville will do the trick. But a vacation shouldn’t be an issue unless there is some issue that you’re not comfortable mentioning.
IMO he is ina fought spot. Has to give tough love to a lot of the organization while still inspiring them. He really doesn’t self-promote any more or less than other executives and he is very genuine in his interactions.
Couldn’t agree with you more on the level of complaining but who works here. I’ve been an employee about as long as you’ve been consulting and it is staggering some days the things people will waste their time on.
That said, the greatest challenge any leader faces is culture change. As good as Saul is in other areas does he have what it takes to make the culture change?
WFG pay is the best in banking. WFG displacement is the most lucrative severance package in banking. WFG is by far the least efficient operation in banking, using twice the people than peer banks.
Yet… WFG for some reason has the most complaining in the industry. We are talking very coddled people here. Nobody leaves because they simply cannot get higher pay and/or less hours anywhere else.
No other bank would allow this spoiled attitude to corrupt their workforce.
After a decade consulting at WF, I should add the context, that WF employees seem to complain more than any other client I've worked at.
Saul has impressed me over the years, by his ability to communicate with great clarity, to change speed and subject on a dime when need be.
I don't know if he's off target with employees at times - being a consultant, that's never an issue for me - people annoy me too much, I clear my desk and find a different client. But I can say, I have worked for a bunch of people half as good as Saul.
I knew svb was out of touch when the 1st 30 days of his employment he stated he was bringing everyone back in the office when there was a space shortage with all the remote workers. Of course the following week he had to back pedal on bringing everyone in the office. Go back to jpm.
Considering he gave a sob story over how poor he was growing up i don’t think they are father/son. Ever notice how he always talks of his mother and not his father?
Make a comparison photo collage of Shell CEO's picture (smiling) and Saul's (smiling). You will see the remarkable facial resemblance. Identical smile, teeth, nose, eyebrows, ears. I am betting Saul is Ben van Beurden's son.
@wkh+17ze6R8I no doubt MN's rear is getting hot. She's pretty much fired all of her directs and rehired a whole new team. I think her days with WF are numbered.
Sad really
I am in the Technologies department and Saul is one of our leaders. I actually enjoy his meetings and think they are very interesting and informative. The "thing" with the cricket in the last meeting was so funny. Everyone is in fear of being laid off right now and we know that will be happening. At least he is being pretty upfront about the reality of the layoff situation and gives some timeline for it and some indication of what it will involve. He did state in the last meeting that layoffs will be directed towards Managers and that is sad. I guess he is just doing his job right now and they have to layoff some employees. I won't be surprised if I get laid off. Hope not, but being realistic. Not like it would be the first time at the US corporations. I could start my plans to leave for a new job but I think I will stick around and see what happens with my job. Hopefully severance and unemployment in the event of a layoff. Too bad that Wells Fargo has come to this situation. I was SO happy when I was hired as an internal employee many years ago now, as a developer and VP.
“ is he related to the VanBeurden CEO of Shell? ”. Lol, no
Yes he said the major spans/layers layoffs will be complete by end of Nov. more after that will likely happen but would be smaller efforts.
So about that last AMA, did he basically say or imply that the big round of layoffs is projected to end by late November or is that just what I think I heard?
: @1bnz+17ze6R8I L. Yes, there are rumors going around that SVB and CS love each other’s company, if you know what I mean.
@1hzt, how is the truth a personal attack? Are you SVB?
@wch Exactly. He does think everyone in Tech is a developer. Sure, I want to "Up Skill" by learning Java so I can become a developer and take a pay cut. Which is perhaps his plan.
@maa, exactly! Go here and get my millions and not do anything and move on... And take my buddy MN with me as she does the same.
I just can't even believe he was considered for the position, much less hired! Tells me everything I need to know about WF.
@1byf, I heard this before. Is there any truth to this? I mean just look at his wife...
SVB has a serious man crush on his boss CS. Is that allowed?
is he related to the VanBeurden CEO of Shell? Does Wells Fargo do business with SHell ? It's unbelievable such inadequate candidate got a job of this caliber/significance. He probably sold his vision of sending tech work to India, off his resume part from JPM Chase. To me he really is a just a corporate consultant at CPA. Well overpaid. And I can't get over the fact he can't even speaks English correctly. The direct translations of Dutch idioms into English he uses makes it bizarre.
Adding to his resume/personal interests: he has a pet cricket!
looks like a career hopper - 2-3 years and gone
Personal Attributes and Interests
Van Beurden was born on September 24 in Vlijmen, The Netherlands.
Van Beurden is married to Linda Kattekamp.
He graduated from Dr. Moller College Waalwijk in 1988.
He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
According to his LinkedIn profile, Van Beurden works out of Wells Fargo’s New York City office
Adds Two CIOs to Tech Leadership Team
Wells Fargo rounded out its technology leadership team in May 2020 with the appointment of Chintan Mehta to the role of CIO and Head of Technology and Innovation and Munish Kumar to the role of CIO and Head of Wealth and Investment Management Technology. Both report to Van Beurden. CIO Dive reported that Mehta was previously CIO of Wells Fargo's digital ecosystem and Kumar joins the company from JPMorgan Chase, where he oversaw a technology team focused on personalizing customer experience.
Employment History
Senior EVP and Head, Technology, Wells Fargo & Company, from 2019 to present
CIO, Chase Consumer and Community Banking, JPMorgan Chase & Co., from 2016 to 2019
Managing Director, Global Technology, JPMorgan Chase & Co., from 2014 to 2016
Managing Director and COO, International, Marsh Inc., Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., from 2013 to 2014 COO and CIO, Retail Banking International, ING Group NV, from 2010 to 2013
Head, IT Strategy and Enterprise Architecture, ING Group NV, from 2009 to 2012
General Manager, Strategy and Support, ING Group NV, from 2009 to 2011
Head, OPS&IT Banking Transformation Program, ING Group NV, from 2008 to 2010
Director, Solution Delivery Consumer Products, ING Group NV, from 2006 to 2008
Director, Change Management, ING Group NV, from 2005 to 2007
Program Manager, ING Group NV, from 2003 to 2005
COO, Pantheon Automatisering B.V., from 1999 to 2001
Managing Director, Nolan, Norton & Co.,
Senior Manager, Nolan, Norton & Co.,
Senior Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,
I hope this stays in the archive, so that anyone researching his capability prior to offering him his next job isn't fooled like the clowns who hired him at WF.
Amsterdam is a sh-hole by the way. So is the Netherlands. He's never seen anything of a scale.
Does SVB know that there is more to "Technology" than just development? He seems to think that is all it is. Telling people to take programming training, etc. Seems very odd to me.
Saul's management style is to create a list of words that start with "S", then call it a day.
Seriously, we're being told to align our work with The Six S's.
Management by Buzzfeed listicle.
It's embarassing.
Clearly, Holly really needs this job.
Glad you mentioned MN into this discussion - she (and the so called leaders under her) are the cause of the problem and have been busy sweeping the issues under the rags. At some point, they'll run out of brooms or rags.
At some point soon WF will end up on front page news like Target for a security breach. WHich will be the final nail in the coffin.
As to the mass layoffs and potential revenge by people with great skill in technology, hurting from injustice where they're laid off amid pandemic, deprived severance and unemployment and while their former boss that caused all this enjoys his 36 million a year. Oh let's not forget he now gets 6% match on his 401k-able income. The boss who forgot he also is just an employee.
This is 2020 folks, there are a lot of tools, there is darknet. this is a year of dealing with social injustice, inequality. I say it is insane to expect people will just walk out like the lamb for a slaughter and do nothing.
Remember when they originally posted for his job, and said that this person would be of the highest quality. There were only 1 or 2 people in the world that could do the job. Then they hired this clown. He was taken down by a cricket today.
Oh, and lovely story about losing the General and the horses. Go back to Amsterdam...
SVB and MN. Two peas in a pod. So disgusting - both of them.
Dude's a clueless id–t. Had him on ignore for months now. He's just throwing buzzwords at us and has shown zero empathy for the people in the trenches.
@wks, so, so agree!! He is a short-timer and that is it! He is clueless and he is not likable - no matter how hard he tries! He is obsessive-compulsive and completely unqualified. Can we come up with a total of how many times he said cricket? My gosh! Get a life and get some qualifications! And please someone get rid of him!
Very insensitive to those who work here and cannot afford vacations and such since we are in fear of losing our jobs. So much for D&I, he cannot even relate to us at all.
Isn't Saul an accountant y education ? I am sorry, but in case of executive technical roles having a solid understanding of technical aspect DOES matter. This explains how he calls his 5S-BS 'strategy'. There is no IT strategy. I feel sorry for the IT folks.
He's clueless, his English is bad and he's riding a wave, having been recently admitted to executive club, hence he can't stop himself showing it off. A seasoned executive has no need for it, and is established in the lifestyle and used to all the perks.
In my opinion Saul is faking and his friendly demeanor is to buy him acceptance of staff, especially that the bloodbath is about to happen, which will destroy his image and relationships with staff. He wants to keep his warm seat post the cuts so that the survivors won't turn on him or turn towards sabotage. In IT, this is a serious risk for him, especially considering the messes and dirty secrets (issues) the management has been sweeping under rags for years. If I were Saul, I would tread very lightly. Remember the Sony hack that brought down corporate servers ? Why do you think all of the sudden 16 character passwords are all the rage and they're finally cleaning up user authentication? (rhetorical question).
I have seen big layoffs and Saul won't fool me. Him and head of HR will be the last to walk out when the mission is done because the truth is, you can't recover from something like that.
I have 12 interviews next week! I should be about to get a few offers;
LOL Shell game with 401k. Unless your employed on 12/15, they still won't match your 401k. The only exceptions are displacement, disablement, or retirement.
I don’t like or dislike him. But I don’t get the feeling that he’s a narcissist. He’s speaks like any typical leader of any corporation would live to thousands of people. I do agree that talking about his wife vacationing in Amsterdam is out of touch when people are nervous/anxious about losing their jobs.
A plant? He was so excited to answer the Cooper question.
I think the cricket finally k–led itself.