Wells Fargo considers moving around shareholders meetings

As Wells Fargo considers breaking with tradition and holding more shareholders meetings outside of its home state of California, some might wonder: Will one ever be held in Charlotte?

On Tuesday, instead of its typical venue, the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco, Wells Fargo held its shareholders meeting at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

Ancel Martinez, Wells Fargo spokesman, told the Observer Wednesday that the company is interested in holding shareholders meetings in cities where it has a big presence. In Utah, he said, the bank has roughly 4,000 employees and 122 branches.

"We've been doing business there since the 1850s," he said. "This year, Salt Lake City was just a convenient venue."

But in the Charlotte area, the company's presence is even larger; it employs roughly 20,700 people in the region, and North Carolina is home to about 300 Wells Fargo branches.

Martinez said roughly 150 people attended the Utah meeting. The company has not yet decided where next year's meeting will be held, he added.

"We will consider the cities where we have a significant presence of customers, team members and operations," he said.