Now that Wachovia has it’s new CEO, Robert K. Steel, in place (see earlier blog) more top management changes have already begun. Yesterday, long-time employee and current CFO, 
Thomas J. Wurtz, announced he would be stepping down as soon as his replacement was found. Steel, who is under intense pressure to find ways to right the ship, is already hard at work putting his his own on stamp on the firm. One can expect continued management changes at the top as Steel looks to get his own team in charge. According to a story by David Mildenberg of Bloomberg,
“Wurtz is part of the collateral damage at Wachovia and I expect more is coming,” said Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.Former chief financial officer Robert Kelly, who was Wurtz’s predecessor, “could stand up to Ken Thompson but the analyst community never had that feeling with Tom Wurtz.”
Paul Davis of the American Banker stated,
Wurtz was a key public defender of the company’s October 2006 acquisition of Golden West Financial Corp., a transaction that largely contributed to G. Kennedy Thompson’s ouster as Wachovia’s chief executive officer in June.
As executive and lower level changes continue at Wachovia there is a great deal more needed to right this ship. Stay tuned.For more:ReutersTimes OnlineOrlando SentinelTampa Bay JournalMarketWatch
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