Wells CEO mea culpa

‘Black talent’ apology

I apologize for making an insensitive comment reflecting my own unconscious bias. — Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, in an all-staff memo Wednesday morning

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf apologized for saying that there has been a lack of diversity in the bank’s upper ranks because of a shallow pool of minority talent.

Scharf sent an all-staff memo Wednesday morning after reports swirled on Tuesday that he had repeatedly defended Wells Fargo’s inability to reach its diversity goals over the summer with the rationale that “there is a very limited pool of black talent to recruit from.”

“I apologize for making an insensitive comment reflecting my own unconscious bias,” Scharf wrote in a companywide memo on Wednesday.

“There are many talented diverse individuals working at Wells Fargo and throughout the financial services industry and I never meant to imply otherwise.”

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Scharf had exasperated some black employees in a Zoom meeting this summer when he said that the bank had trouble reaching diversity goals because there were not enough qualified minority candidates.

He also made the assertion in a company-wide memo on June 18 that announced diversity initiatives as nationwide protests broke out following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, in Minneapolis police custody.

In that memo he wrote, “While it might sound like an excuse, the unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from with this specific experience as our industry does not have enough diversity in most senior roles.”

In his apology, he wrote, “I’ve worked in the financial services industry for many years, and it’s clear to me that, across the industry, we have not done enough to improve diversity, especially at senior leadership levels.”

Scharf’s previous remarks were widely criticized after the Reuters report was published on Tuesday.

“Perhaps it’s the CEO of Wells Fargo who lacks the talent to recruit Black workers,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said in a tweet.

Scharf said some progress has been made under his watch, highlighting the appointments of Lester Owens as head of operations, and Ather Williams III, who will become head of Strategy, Digital and Innovation in October. He added that Kristy Fercho has been named head of home lending.

As CEO of the largest US bank by number of employees, Scharf has pledged to double the number of black leaders over five years and tied executive compensation to reaching diversity goals.

But Scharf also admitted he has not done enough.

“There is no question Wells Fargo has to make meaningful progress to increase diverse representation,” he wrote on Wednesday. “As I said in June, I have committed that this time must be different.”