Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo is a diversified financial services company in the United States, with consumer finance subsidiaries doing business in Canada, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Caribbean.

With Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo banks, Wells Fargo Insurance, Wells Fargo Private Client Services (composed of brokerage, trust, and private banking), and Wells Fargo Financial, the company sells virtually every type of financial service available.

Headquarted in San Francisco, with a regional headquarters in Minneapolis, Wells Fargo is a result of the acquisition of California-based Wells Fargo & Co. by Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998. Norwest changed its name to Wells Fargo by the start of 2000.

Wells Fargo & Co. was founded in 1852 as a stagecoach company during the California Gold Rush. Its major focus was its express business until World War I, when the U.S. government nationalized the express business; the company then shifted its focus to financial services.

The current CEO is Richard Kovacevich.