Wells Fargo Capital Finance Announces Peter Schwab Will Retire; Names Henry Jordan as New Head of Asset-Based Lending

Wells Fargo Capital Finance, the asset-based lending group of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), said today that Peter Schwab, its chairman and chief executive officer, plans to retire at the end of December 2010. Henry Jordan, currently president and chief operating officer of Wells Fargo Capital Finance, will succeed Schwab and report to Dave Hoyt, senior executive vice president of Wells Fargo and head of the Wholesale Banking Group.

Peter Schwab (Photo: Business Wire)

"Under Pete’s leadership, Wells Fargo has grown to be a leading name in asset-based lending, factoring and other specialized, senior secured lending,” said Hoyt. "With the successful integration of these businesses as one organization—Wells Fargo Capital Finance—he caps a remarkable career. He is respected, both within Wells Fargo and throughout the industry, and will be greatly missed. Pete has built an excellent management team and, under Henry’s leadership, the business will continue to provide our Wholesale customers creative financing options.”

Schwab has been in the asset-based lending industry for 39 years. In 1982, he joined Foothill Capital Corporation (acquired by Norwest in 1995) and became its president and chief operating officer in 1986. In 2000, he was named chairman and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo Foothill, and in 2006, he became head of Wells Fargo’s Asset-Based Lending Group, now known as Wells Fargo Capital Finance. Before joining Wells Fargo, Schwab was with Aetna Business Credit, later acquired by Barclay’s American Business Credit, and the National Acceptance Company of California.

Schwab has served as the president and chairman of the Commercial Finance Association and was a member and officer of the Southern California Finance Conference. He also serves on the board of advisors for the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Anderson School of Business at UCLA; was on the board of directors of The School of Business, California State University, Northridge; and is a board member for the Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Southern California. A native of Los Angeles, Schwab earned a bachelor’s degree in education from California State University, Northridge and a master’s degree in education administration from California State University, Los Angeles.

Jordan joined the organization in 1984 as controller for Foothill Capital Corporation after several years of auditing Foothill with an outside accounting firm. He served as the chief financial officer of The Foothill Group from 1990 to 1997, was promoted to the office of the president of Foothill Capital Corporation in 1997, then named president and chief operating officer in 2000. Jordan holds a degree from Loyola Marymount University and is a certified public accountant. He is actively involved with his alma mater as a member of both its board of regents and its business school’s advisory board. Jordan is also a member of the development committee for Notre Dame Academy High School in Los Angeles.

Wells Fargo Capital Finance, headquartered in Santa Monica, is the trade name for certain asset-based lending, accounts receivable, and purchase order finance services of Wells Fargo & Company and its subsidiaries, and provides traditional asset-based lending, specialized senior secured financing, accounts receivable financing and purchase order financing to companies across the United States and Canada. Dedicated teams within Wells Fargo Capital Finance provide financing solutions for companies in specific industries such as retail, software publishing and high technology, commercial finance, staffing, government contracting, time share development, and others. For more information, visit wellsfargocapitalfinance.com.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.2 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 10,000 banking stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With more than 278,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 19 on Fortune’s 2009 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6445255&lang=en