Wells Fargo

a US company that became famous in the Old West for carrying goods and passengers between San Francisco and New York. Their stagecoaches also carried gold, money and mail and were often attacked by thieves. The company was established as a bank in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G Fargo. In 1861 they bought the Pony Express. In 1918 Wells Fargo combined with several other companies to form the American Railway Express Company.

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▪ American corporation

      American financial services company with banks in many states, especially in the West. The founders of the original company were Henry Wells (Wells, Henry) (1805–78) and William George Fargo (Fargo, William George) (1818–81), who had earlier helped establish the American Express Company. They and other investors established Wells, Fargo & Company in March 1852, to handle the banking and express business prompted by the California Gold Rush. In California the company handled the purchase, sale, and transport of gold dust, bullion, and specie and other goods that moved from the West to the East Coast by ship, via the Isthmus of Panama. In the decade following 1855, Wells Fargo expanded into the staging business with overland routes from Missouri and the Midwest to the Rockies and the Far West. In 1866 a grand consolidation brought almost all Western stagecoach lines under the Wells Fargo name. The days of stagecoaching gradually declined, however, after completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.

      In 1905 Wells Fargo's banking operations (in California) were separated from its express operations and merged with the Nevada National Bank (founded 1875) to form the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank. In 1923 this bank merged with the Union Trust Company (founded 1893) to form the Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Co., a name that was shortened to Wells Fargo Bank in 1954. In 1960 it merged again, this time with the giant American Trust Company (dating to 1854), to form the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company. In 1968 the holding company Wells Fargo & Company was created to own all shares of Wells Fargo Bank, NA, as the bank was renamed. In the late 20th century Wells Fargo Bank (headquartered, as was the holding company, in San Francisco) had more than 300 branches throughout California, as well as subsidiaries, affiliates, and branches worldwide. In 1986 Wells Fargo & Company acquired the Crocker National Corporation for approximately $1 billion. The following decade brought mergers with First Interstate Bancorporation (1996) and Norwest Corporation (1998). The contemporary Wells Fargo, one of the largest banks in the United States, provides services including banking, mortgages, insurance, and financial management.

      Other companies have also possessed rights to use the Wells Fargo name. Wells Fargo the express carrier eventually disappeared; in 1918 its domestic operations were taken over by American Railway Express (reorganized in 1929 as Railway Express Agency, Inc., and fading into bankruptcy in 1975 as REA Express, Inc.). Wells Fargo's foreign express business continued independently until 1924, when the American Express Company acquired a controlling interest in Wells Fargo stock and absorbed the remaining Wells Fargo express business. During the years under American Express, however, Wells Fargo also developed security services; these, together with rights to the Wells Fargo name, were sold in 1967 to Baker Industries, Inc., and survived through subsidiary Wells Fargo Armored Service Corp., which included Wells Fargo Guard Services and Wells Fargo Alarm Services. The merger of Loomis Armored Inc. and Wells Fargo Armored Service Corp. in 1997 created Loomis, Fargo & Co., a division of Securitas AB, a Swedish company.

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