Wells Fargo Boss Talks Bank Fees, Economy, Taxes

⿿Warren Buffett is your biggest shareholder. (His conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, holds an 8 percent stake in Wells, about $14 billion worth, according to financial data provider FactSet.) Tell us about that.

He reads everything. One time I talked to him on a Monday, we'd put out our 10-Q (a quarterly financial report) on a Friday, and he said he spent all day Saturday reading it cover to cover. I said, 'Warren, you do that often?' He said, 'Oh, I love Q's.' He was asking me about some esoteric asset ⿿ I was blown away.

⿿Do you want to be treasury secretary?

I have a full-time job. I love leading Wells Fargo.

⿿You've got almost 270,000 employees, and you've said you try to talk to one, unannounced, every day. How do you do that?

I see somebody in the elevator, I call somebody on their birthday, I see a sales report or I see a great save or I hear a story about one person who is handing out bottles of water after Hurricane Sandy, and I call them up and say, 'Thank you,' and 'What are you hearing?', 'What are you thinking?' Or I might walk into one of our (bank branches) when I'm traveling and shake their hands.

⿿Do you wear a suit? Because that might give you away.

Sometimes I do. If I'm in a mountain town, I don't. One time I did and somebody came out of the bathroom with their kid and said, 'Hey, Johnny, look, there's a bank examiner.'

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