Bailed-out Wells Fargo plans Las Vegas junket
Company spokesperson says event is part of the bank’s culture
WASHINGTON - Wells Fargo & Co., which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, is planning a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month.
Wells Fargo, once among the nation’s top writers of subprime mortgages, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and its sister hotel, the Encore Las Vegas beginning Friday, said Wynn spokeswoman Michelle Loosbrock. The hotels will host the annual conference for company’s top mortgage officers.
The conference is a Wells Fargo tradition. Previous years have included all-expense-paid helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 employees and guests.
“I was amazed with just how lavish it was,” said Debra Rickard, a former Wells Fargo mortgage employee from Colorado who attended the events regularly until she left the company in 2004. “We stayed in top hotels, the entertainment was just unbelievable, and there were awards — you got plaques or trophies.”
While the nation’s recession has led other banks, such as Bank of America, to cancel employee recognition outings, Wells Fargo has not.
“Recognition events are still part of our culture,” spokeswoman Melissa Murray said. “It’s really important that our team members are still valued and recognized.”
Sales Club is part of the reps bonus for last year. If you earned it, you get it. If you cancel it, the top guys will leave - and they WILL get a job elsewhere.
Actually Wells Fargo is one of the better more solvent banks going and has never really beenin danger of going under. They were more or less FORCED to take the $25 billion.
Top sales guys really are that good. The top 10% is amazing. The next 30% or so gets there by just working their ass off.
Again - I am assuming that this is sales club - where you get to go when you hit certain milestones (top 10% of the reps, top 5% gets a suite, top 1% comes earlier for other goodies plus tee time with the CEO).
Yeah - it looks bad. However, it is also part of the reps compensation for prior year performance. Cancel it and you MIGHT have problems (depending on the employment and compensation contract).
I would assume that you should be rewarded not based on the volume of the mortgages you sold, but also on the quality of those mortgages.
If you sold NINJA mortgages to people who no-way-in-hell could afford them, costing the company billions of dollars, I don’t see how that can be bonus-worthy.
Maybe it looks bad, but it’s nothing. Wells Fargo is in good shape, it is not struggling, it is well managed, I say let it keep doing whatever they genreally do to remain successful.
I don’t know their comp plan, but it probably pays based on amount written that is approved by the underwriters.
The sales guy does not get to approve the financing, credit check, or house valuation. He simply sells the mortgage plan. The really goods ones sell a LOT of mortgages. For that, they get commission plus a chance to go to club.
For myself, I am hoping to build a society where salesmanship skills are not the most highly rewarded attributes. But that’s just me. And a few others.