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.
Sort of an award for a job well done?
I am all for accountability, but you’re taking this way too far:
vegas can be quite cost competitive when it comes to conference hosting (since the casinos assume that anybody you get there will gamble)
for national conferences vegas is probably among the most cost effective locations to fly to, lots of fare deals to be had all the time.
for certain careers (sales, marketing, …) the ‘intangibles’ (conferences/junkets in nice places etc.) are an implicit part of the compensation package, if you want to retain good employees you have to provide them
talk about private jets and CxO junkets in the Caribbean all you want, but a standard yearly national conference in Vegas is nothing to get upset about IMHO.
Where do you draw the line? It would be one thing if WF had been successful, but they failed miserably. Nobody there deserves an award for the work done last year unless you are rewarding failure. Their stock is down 50%. They have at least $1.5 billion in bad loans. What’s the upside? Their doors are still open?
Considering the economy, Obama’s promises and the mood of the people I would have though something a little more low key would have been appropriate. Instead, this adds fuel to the fire that the bailouts were ill spent, the taxpayers are still getting taken for a ride, and Joe Taxpayer is going to be footing the bill at the Wynn which, even with a group discount is still an expensive hotel to stay at.
First what’s the point of these “Conferences”? Can’t the same thing be done by meeting at the office?
Second…
**- for certain careers (sales, marketing, …) the ‘intangibles’ (conferences/junkets in nice places etc.) are an implicit part of the compensation package, if you want to retain good employees you have to provide them **
This has obviously not been working in the past because the companies have been run into the ground. One would wonder if “Good” employees still exist. Maybe it’s time to change the benefit package and attract some other “good” employees while letting the current ones go.
First what’s the point of these “Conferences”? Can’t the same thing be done by meeting at the office?
for a company that operates across the nation? How would you house an additional several hundred employees and have spaces for them to mingle, meet etc.? You need some sort of hotel/conference centre, and I can bet that doing this in vegas is a lot cheaper than something like the moscone centre in SF etc.
In Reply ToThis has obviously not been working in the past because the companies have been run into the ground. One would wonder if “Good” employees still exist. Maybe it’s time to change the benefit package and attract some other “good” employees while letting the current ones go.
do you really think individual employees have any sort of control on the overall direction of the company? The CEOs justify their enormous compensation packages based on the fact that they can basically make-or-break the company after all, individual employees have no options but to quit.
Personally I would have made it a mandatory requirement for any bailout that the CEO and the board be terminated, and that they repaid 100% of the bonuses they received for the past 2-3 years, but the odds of that flying would be pretty low (what CEO would vote for their own termination? and pay back tens of millions of $?)
Where do you draw the line? It would be one thing if WF had been successful, but they failed miserably. Nobody there deserves an award for the work done last year unless you are rewarding failure. Their stock is down 50%. They have at least $1.5 billion in bad loans. What’s the upside? Their doors are still open?
Considering the economy, Obama’s promises and the mood of the people I would have though something a little more low key would have been appropriate. Instead, this adds fuel to the fire that the bailouts were ill spent, the taxpayers are still getting taken for a ride, and Joe Taxpayer is going to be footing the bill at the Wynn which, even with a group discount is still an expensive hotel to stay at.
who is ‘they’? I don’t think the people who are going to go to this conference are the ones that decided the direction of the company.
Also, how more ‘low key’ can you go? Would you want to spend more money and host this somewhere else? As I was saying there are a LOT of business conferences in vegas, and this is often related to it being a more cost effective destination. I don’t think WF will be giving out casino vouchers and tickets to cirque du soleil…
Wells didn’t want the taxpayer funds. I believe the CEO is on record as not wanting to take them, but was told by the Fed “you will take our investment just like everyone else. Or else.”
Also, did you know that Wells just paid a $371.5MM dividend on the Treasury’s investment?
Wells is the best run big bank in the country (although that might not be saying much, given their competition these days…).
Mike is right, Stumpf did not want the fed money. WFB absorbed a lot of bad Wachovia loans, hence the write offs. In our group, we cut expenses last year. One way we did so was that I didn’t go to the Vegas conference that I attended the year before.
Where do you draw the line? It would be one thing if WF had been successful, but they failed miserably. Nobody there deserves an award for the work done last year unless you are rewarding failure. Their stock is down 50%. They have at least $1.5 billion in bad loans. What’s the upside? Their doors are still open?
Considering the economy, Obama’s promises and the mood of the people I would have though something a little more low key would have been appropriate. Instead, this adds fuel to the fire that the bailouts were ill spent, the taxpayers are still getting taken for a ride, and Joe Taxpayer is going to be footing the bill at the Wynn which, even with a group discount is still an expensive hotel to stay at.
who is ‘they’? I don’t think the people who are going to go to this conference are the ones that decided the direction of the company.
Also, how more ‘low key’ can you go? Would you want to spend more money and host this somewhere else? As I was saying there are a LOT of business conferences in vegas, and this is often related to it being a more cost effective destination. I don’t think WF will be giving out casino vouchers and tickets to cirque du soleil…
They would be whatever small mind made this bad decision. Why wouldn’t canceling the event be appropriate? I think a responsible CEO would understand that now is not the time to go to Vegas. It blows my mind that incompetence gets rewarded and the taxpayers are expected to understand. WF is located in CA so I am going to ask my Senators and the President why this should be OK. If enough people give a damn we can end this kind of crap here and now.
The conference is an idnustry event and will have regulators there as well…includes the heads of the FDIC and FHFA who will be discussing recent regulations and changes in legislation esp. WRT mortgage bankruptcy legislation. other regulatory agencies there include SEC, Federal Reserve, ECB, OTS.etc…
They would be whatever small mind made this bad decision. Why wouldn't canceling the event be appropriate? I think a responsible CEO would understand that now is not the time to go to Vegas. It blows my mind that incompetence gets rewarded and the taxpayers are expected to understand. WF is located in CA so I am going to ask my Senators and the President why this should be OK. If enough people give a damn we can end this kind of crap here and now.
once again, ‘going to vegas’ for fun is one thing, ‘going to vegas’ because it’s the most cost effective place you can find is another.
Also cancelling a yearly meeting where you likely will plan strategy for the coming year and figure things out to me doesn’t seem like it makes that much business sense. For better or worse there is a cost to doing business, as I was saying, flying corporate jets (vs economy class), having a junket in some tropical island (instead of inside the US, like vegas), etc. are all wasted expenses, but you can’t do business for zero dollars: if you need to have a yearly meeting for several hundreds/thousands employees you need to find a place that makes sense (in terms of location and cost).
They would be whatever small mind made this bad decision. Why wouldn't canceling the event be appropriate? I think a responsible CEO would understand that now is not the time to go to Vegas. It blows my mind that incompetence gets rewarded and the taxpayers are expected to understand. WF is located in CA so I am going to ask my Senators and the President why this should be OK. If enough people give a damn we can end this kind of crap here and now.
once again, 'going to vegas' for fun is one thing, 'going to vegas' because it's the most cost effective place you can find is another.
Also cancelling a yearly meeting where you likely will plan strategy for the coming year and figure things out to me doesn’t seem like it makes that much business sense. For better or worse there is a cost to doing business, as I was saying, flying corporate jets (vs economy class), having a junket in some tropical island (instead of inside the US, like vegas), etc. are all wasted expenses, but you can’t do business for zero dollars: if you need to have a yearly meeting for several hundreds/thousands employees you need to find a place that makes sense (in terms of location and cost).
I don’t believe that traveling anywhere is more cost effective then using video conferencing so I can’t accept that argument. Also, considering their recent past, the cost for doing business badly should preclude WF from this kind of boondoggle. Apparently they have a history of spending lavishly…
“In previous years, top loan officers were treated to performances by Cher, Jay Leno and Huey Lewis. One year, the company provided fortune tellers and offered camel rides, Rickard said. Every night when employees returned to their rooms, there was a new gift on their pillows, she said.”
Let’s remember that these top loan officers were being rewarded because they were so incompetent, not for making good choices. The proof is in the bottom line.
I am glad this is not my bank. I don’t want anyone that got bailed using tax money to have a good time on my tab. I intend to try and end this kind of nonsense every chance I get. If enough people Digg it maybe we can stop this nonsense…
I don’t believe that traveling anywhere is more cost effective then using video conferencing
let me know how well BOF sessions and general impromptu meetings work for you over a remote link, as much as I am a strong proponent of telecommuting and decentralization, in today’s world face-time is often an essential component of a business relationship.
The article does not have all the facts straight. It’s pretty unclear in general. For example, Kovacevich is not the CEO anymore, he could have referred to him as “former chairman”. Not a big deal, but sloppy journalism. Quotes about the conferences of past from someone who left the bank 5 years ago?? Hardly applicable. Do you really think the bank is paying what everyone else pays for a room at the Wynn. I know for a fact they aren’t. The last conference I went to, I extended my stay and was allowed to keep my room (at the Paris) at the bank’s rate. It was incredibly cheap. Credit officers at WFB are far from incompetent. “Loan officers” don’t underwrite anything without credit officer’s approval.
With the current climate it’s pretty easy to get your panties in a bunch. The author of this article aimed to incite indigation. It apparently worked.
"The conference is an idnustry event and will have regulators there as well…includes the heads of the FDIC and FHFA who will be discussing recent regulations and changes in legislation esp. WRT mortgage bankruptcy legislation. other regulatory agencies there include SEC, Federal Reserve, ECB, OTS.etc… "
In summary, the whole financial mafia will be there.