AG Edwards: Honest, management and leaders were accountable and expected to be experts in their field, beloved CEO, they put the customers first, respected their employees, and ran a tight ship. We all worked together towards the same goals. It was a well-respected company.
Wachovia: I think they may have had good intentions, but they were a mess. They worked hard but not smart. There were some good managers there, but many were not fully knowledgeable over the areas they managed. Buddies promoting buddies. Top execs were overly eager to grow the firm, so they kept acquiring firms more quickly than the back offices could integrate. The place was a total disaster. And then, of course they had to jump on the mortgage train, and their acquisition of Golden West ultimately took them down.
Wells Fargo: I still can’t wrap my head around it. What is it? Ethically challenged, arrogant, inept, self-interested, greedy, abusive and disrespectful of their clients, too big to manage, too driven by numbers, negligent at best and criminal at worst, no moral compass, irresponsible, out-of-touch C Suite, terrible HR Department. On and on.
After everything that has happened, most of these same problems still exist at Wells today. These problems would be bad in any business, but at a bank? I have concerns that time is going to prove that we are not capable of making money and being ethical at the same time.