Wells Fargo’s embattled CEO steps down

Wells Fargo & Co. announced Wednesday that scandal-plagued CEO John Stumpf is retiring effective immediately and relinquishing his title as chairman. The nation’s second-largest bank earlier announced that Stumpf would forfeit $41 million in stock awards. The 34-year veteran of the bank and CEO since 2007 faced congressional hearings and wrath from consumers last month after Wells Fargo was found to have opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts. The bank has agreed to pay $185 million to settle allegations that its workers opened accounts without the permission of customers to reach aggressive sales goals. COO Tim Sloan will succeed Stumpf as CEO. Stephen Sanger, the bank’s lead director, will serve as the board’s non-executive chairman.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.