Jamie Dimon and Richard Kavacevich are on the top of the list for Banker of the Year, Big Banks category.
Kovacevich built Citibank into a retail powerhouse only to be passed over in the in house politics of Walter Wriston's world. He went to Norwest bank, built it up, and became CEO of Wells Fargo when it bought Norwest.
Banks talk a lot about cross selling, but actions speak louder than words. Under Kovacevich's leadership, the average Wells Fargo customer uses 5.7 services from the bank. Dan Fitzpatrick discribes Wells Fargo under his leadership as "a selling machine."
Kovacevich now has a chance to evangelize that gospel to Wachovia, which Wells Fargo is planning to take over. Absorbing Wachovia will be a big, big challange. Wachovia announced a $23.7 billion loss today.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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2 comments:
Personal opinion as a wachovia insurance policy holder. Wachovia sucks! I hope the buy out helps with the insurance quote rates that are currently rediculious and unstabble.
Mr. Kovacevich has been one of the top executives in the industry for years. Wachovia has a lot of structural overhead and bad loans that will need skillful disposition. The price it looks like a great deal, particularly with the tax advantages of the bailout. Size is not everything. . Let's hope they can get their institutions and in turn the rest of the market out of this mess while keeping the government at least at arm’s length.
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