Alarmed the Chairman, President and CEO of Wells Fargo and his wife (who is not an employee of the firm) may be habitually violating company policies by conducting their personal business on company premises, I sent the following email to [email protected] in early 2007. Wells Fargo did not deem my concerns worthy of a reply:
Over the years, Mr. Richard Marco Kovacevich, Wells Fargo Chairman, President & CEO and his wife Mrs. Mary Jo Kovacevich, have made a number of individual contributions to state and national political campaigns and committees as reported to the Federal Election Commission. No one can dispute or deny these private citizens have the right to join the democratic process by making these donations. However, a conflict of interest appears to exist because these individual contributors have reported their mailing address to be the same as that of Wells Fargo's Corporate Headquarters (420 Montgomery St., Floor 12, San Francisco, CA 94104).
Outside observers may accordingly arrive at one or more of the following conclusions:
1.) Mr. & Mrs. Kovacevich have established a personal residence on the 12th floor at 420 Montgomery St.
2.) Wells Fargo condones and permits all of its Team Members and their immediate family members to use a Wells Fargo property address for their own personal and non-work related activities. This is in clear violation of company policies as detailed in the Team Member handbook at http://teamworks. Wellsfargo.com/handbook/HB_Online. Pdf.
3.) The Wells Fargo enterprise, Mr. Kovacevich and Mrs. Kovacevich all actively and publicly support the very same political candidates and committees. This is the most serious assumption the public might make because as you know, corporations are not legally permitted to make political contributions.
To address any concerns the public and Wells Fargo Team Members may have regarding this potential conflict of interest, I suggest Mr. & Mrs. Kovacevich ensure that amended forms indicating their proper mailing address are submitted to the FEC posthaste. If the couple understandably is concerned about keeping their home address private, they might consider renting a post-office mailbox.
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