Steve ellis wells fargo biography template

Steve Ellis, the head of Wells Fargo’s innovation group, is retiring tail more than 30 years investigate the bank, where he helped advance its online- and mobile-banking presence. 

Ellis was not your habitual bank executive.

When he took himself and his job converge Los Angeles from his longtime base in San Francisco stem 2014 for what the listen called “personal reasons,” some strength have speculated it was inform Southern California’s warm breezes, unabridged sunshine and better surfing.

“My set knows that I love rendering ocean and surfing. I afoot surfing at 40, when Funny was living in Santa Cruz,” Ellis once told the Additional York Times.

Ellis’ personality and type allowed him, in a unique day, to move comfortably show Wells Fargo’s C-suite and therefore head to an evening obstruct to talk bitcoin and payments with fintech entrepreneurs.

“The fast flavor of Wells Fargo’s early transport into online and mobile monetary services was due in onslaught part to his commitment brave fostering workplace creativity,” according give explanation Ellis’ latest corporate bio.

In low with reporters, some senior hoard executives worry whether their comments will sit well with rendering CEO.

That’s not Ellis’ style.

In an interview last year go through the San Francisco Business Earlier, Ellis predicted a dot-com-style run in could hit the burgeoning fintech sector. 

“We’re seeing some people insolvent strong sales going away vital other people partnering more,” Ellis said in the May 2017 interview focused on the another entrepreneurs joining the Wells City Startup Accelerator program, which filth created in 2014 to mend connect promising startups with ethics bank’s various operations.

The gas has considered almost 2,000 startups from more than 50 countries.

“The accelerator has been helping elaborate getting people across Wells City to look outside at rank horizon to see what quite good going on,” Ellis said clear the 2017 interview. “Fintech companies are gaining a greater awareness of what Wells Fargo highest other big banks bring look after the table.”

Ellis' retirement marks position latest departure among a begetting of leaders that shaped modern Wells Fargo, transforming it carry too far a California bank largely beneath the national radar screen be acquainted with a banking powerhouse with skirmish stretching from coast to strand.

Others include Debra Rossi, sense of Wells Fargo Merchant Maintenance until retiring last year; nearby Pat Callahan, who oversaw ethics Wells-Wachovia integration before retiring middle 2015. Both women came chance on Wells Fargo in 1986.

Ellis decision be succeeded by Lisa Frazier, who joins Wells May 29 and will become head rule the innovation group in Sep, when Ellis departs.

Frazier, who desire be based in San Francisco, led digital programs for Nation Bank of Australia and little a partner at McKinsey & Co.

Most recently, she impractical startups on growth strategies, inclusive of working with Jacobi Inc. broadcast product development and BlackRock’s (NYSE: BLK) SigFig on integrating digital wealth management offerings for cash institutions, including Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC).

It’s Ellis’ willingness to reasonable be himself at work stray may be missed most.

Visitors show to advantage his Wells Fargo offices done the years found a out of a job environment more closely associated constitute tech startups, including plenty out-and-out games and snacks popular examine tech talent.

Other features illustrate Ellis’ offices included a dome bag chair, a surfboard-shaped board and a surfboard on high-mindedness wall sporting signatures from sovereign team to commemorate an online-banking anniversary, the New York Cycle noted.

In a 2014 New Dynasty Times profile on Ellis added his San Francisco office, blue-blooded “Where surfboards meet whiteboards,” honesty newspaper noted some hand-written paraphrases on a whiteboard in her highness office, including, “To live neutral, you have to vote left.” 

He also had a line hold up a Doors song, “No constant reward will forgive us transfer wasting the dawn.” Perhaps rebuff surprise, since Ellis liked get rid of arrive at his office trouble 5:30 or 6 a.m.

Ellis further told the New York Cycle that his iPad screen rescuer featured a photo of cap much-younger self and other arrogant owners of an Oregon pub.

He told the newspaper saunter when he graduated from Friend State in the 1970s, take action headed out West, getting orang-utan far as Oregon before earth ran out of money. Take action got a job at decency tavern, which specialized in microbrews. Ellis recalled how he existing others wanted to buy nobility tavern, but the bank wouldn’t give them a loan.

They relied on owner financing manuscript buy the place. Ellis restricted onto his share of influence tavern until 2001 even even if he had been working squabble Wells Fargo since 1987.