Charles Scharf, the famous CEO of Wells Fargo, issued a public apology via a company-wide message.
The bold personality is guilty of blaming the famous bank’s lack of diversity in the Black community. According to reports, Mr. Scharf made the same mistake twice, putting him in the hot seat for debate.
Meanwhile, Scharf’s exact words included ‘very limited talent from the Black pool.’
On the other hand, he referred to his previous statements as very ‘insensitive’ as well as a reflection for his own ‘unconscious bias.’ The rather daring comments entered the spotlight via an email that he generated towards mid-June. He repeated the same error-filled sentiments again via a Zoom call during the Summer.
The exact same memo highlighted several Black executives that were recently hired or promoted. At the same time, it drew attention to the company’s efforts towards improving diversity too.
As far as the apology goes, it stated the following:
‘There are a number of talented individuals who work at our Wells Fargo organization as well as countless other financial service industries. Moreover, I never meant to imply otherwise.
This message intended to deliver the right context to the company’s own employees.
‘I worked in the financial industry for quite some time now. It’s quite clear to me that we have certainly not done enough in terms of enhancing diversity. And this particularly includes the most senior levels of leadership.
But what were the thoughts of the bank after such a viral and open apology? Well, they refused to comment over the entire scenario, raising eyebrows.
Reuters instantly broke out the news for the CEO’s previous statements relating to poor diversity.
They also exclaimed how Scharf’s comments ‘exasperated’ some of the Black workers. Nevertheless, the memo also declared how the CEO intends to build better working relationships alongside historic themed Black colleges.
This includes working with other Hispanic institutions while creating anti-racism training options for many of its employees.