Wells Fargo 2014 Annual Report Download - page 5

To Our Owners,
I have always believed that culture is the most important
part of a company’s success. It is the heart of any
organization and a significant contributor to long-term
performance and stability. 
This is certainly true for
WellsFargo. Since 1852, culture
has been a focus of ours, beginning
with how we served the Gold
Rush-era customers who trusted
us to transport their money and
valuables on our stagecoaches.
In those early days, we held a
belief that still holds true today:
“Our merchandise is courtesy,
willingness, and human ability.”
Today, I sum up WellsFargo’s
culture with this word:
“Relationships.” It captures the
passion we all share for serving
our key stakeholders—customers,
communities, investors, and team
members. To earn their trust,
westrive to do the right thing
and act under the highest ethical
standards where honesty, trust,
and integrity matter.
Cultures take years to establish
and mature, a lesson I learned
while growing up on a family
farm in a small town in central
Minnesota. Those years taught
me that the best harvests come
only after years of thoughtful
planning, planting, and nurturing.
It’s no dierent at WellsFargo.
The culture our people enjoy
today is the result of those who
served before us—through a
civil war, two world wars, the
Great Depression, and a Great
Recession that remains fresh
inour memories. Through every
boom and bust, our people
looked ahead, with a vision of the
WellsFargo they wanted to leave
for their successors.
No document better captures
that spirit than The Vision &
Values of WellsFargo, a booklet we
first published 20years ago that
outlines our values, strategies, and
goals. (You can read our Vision &
Values on wellsfargo.com under
“About WellsFargo.”)
While we periodically have
updated that document, the vision
it first shared years ago remains
unchanged: “We want to satisfy all
our customers’ financial needs and
help them succeed financially.”
The reason our team members
go to work each day is to help
customers—we serve 70million
customers and one in three U.S.
households across our more than
90businesses. The result is that
WellsFargo makes money, not
the other way around. Or, as our
Vision & Values puts it, “We’ll
never put the stagecoach ahead
of the horses.” This is why we
believe culture and performance
go handin hand.
Financial results
In2014, WellsFargo generated
record earnings for a sixth
consecutive year, remaining
the most profitable bank in the
UnitedStates. We also ended 2014
as the world’s most valuable bank
by market capitalization.
Our 2014 net income was
$23.1billion, up 5percent from 2013.
Diluted earnings per common share
also rose 5percent to $4.10. Our
2014 revenue of $84.3billion was a
balanced mix of net interest income
and noninterest income, reflecting
the strength of our diversified
business model.
We generated this growth
through a focus on customers,
asmore of them entrusted us with
their deposits and rewarded us
with opportunities to serve more
of their financial needs. In2014,
our total deposits reached a
record $1.2trillion, up 8percent
from the prior year, driven by
both consumer and commercial
growth. Meanwhile, total loans
finished 2014 at $862.6billion,
up 5percent from 2013. Loan
growth occurred across multiple
portfolios, including commercial
loans, residential mortgages,
credit cards, and automobile
lending, helping increase our net
interest income by 2percent from
2013. Our noninterest income
continued to be diversified and
strong, including growth in trust
and investment fees, card fees,
and mortgage servicing.
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