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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

  Robert K. Steel at Wachovia (A)

  Gautam Mukunda, Nien-hê Hsieh and David Lane

  In September 2008, Robert Steel presided over the sale of Wachovia, a top U.S. bank, less than three months after becoming its CEO. Wachovia’s exposure to risky home loans led depositors and creditors to flee the bank on Friday, September 26, after the FDIC seized and sold a smaller bank with similar exposure, whose collapse nonetheless made it the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Faced with Wachovia’s impending bankruptcy, the FDIC intervened again, voting on Monday, September 29, to sell Wachovia’s retail bank to Citigroup for $1 a share. Three days later, Wells Fargo offered $7 a share for all of Wachovia. Steel needed to decide whether to honor the terms of the deal and exclusivity agreement already sketched out with Citigroup or to approve a definitive merger agreement with Wells Fargo.

  Keywords: leadership; Leadership Style; financial crisis; Robert Steel; Wachovia; Sheila Bair; Richard Kovacevich; Wells Fargo; Vikram Pandit; Citigroup; FDIC; Tim Geithner; mortgage lending; crisis management; contagion; mergers and acquisitions; ethics; financial services; banking; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Finance; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Style; Risk Management; Negotiation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Banking Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Mukunda, Gautam, Nien-hê Hsieh, and David Lane. "Robert K. Steel at Wachovia (A)." Harvard Business School Case 418-055, February 2018.  View Details

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• Supplement | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

  Robert K. Steel at Wachovia (B)

  Gautam Mukunda, Nien-hê Hsieh and David Lane

  In September 2008, Robert Steel presided over the sale of Wachovia, a top U.S. bank, less than three months after becoming its CEO. Wachovia’s exposure to risky home loans led depositors and creditors to flee the bank on Friday, September 26, after the FDIC seized and sold a smaller bank with similar exposure, whose collapse nonetheless made it the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Faced with Wachovia’s impending bankruptcy, the FDIC intervened again, voting on Monday, September 29 to sell Wachovia’s retail bank to Citigroup for $1 a share. Three days later, Wells Fargo offered $7 a share for all of Wachovia. Steel needed to decide whether to honor the terms of the deal and exclusivity agreement already sketched out with Citigroup or to approve a definitive merger agreement with Wells Fargo. Supplements the (A) case.

  Keywords: leadership; Leadership Style; financial crisis; Robert Steel; Wachovia; Sheila Bair; Richard Kovacevich; Wells Fargo; Vikram Pandit; Citigroup; FDIC; Tim Geithner; mortgage lending; crisis management; contagion; mergers and acquisitions; ethics; financial services; banking; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Finance; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Style; Risk Management; Negotiation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Banking Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Mukunda, Gautam, Nien-hê Hsieh, and David Lane. "Robert K. Steel at Wachovia (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 418-056, February 2018.  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

  Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life

  Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, James Honan and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

  The Still Leading case series includes an introductory note, “Still Leading (A): Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life” and 10 supplementary cases that cover the transition of highly accomplished and prolific leaders (Hon. Robert McDonald, Hon. Mike Bloomberg, Gerry House, Lee Iacocca, General Claudia Kennedy, Sherry Lansing, Dr. Evelyn Murphy, Paul Newman, Hon. Colin Powell, and Louis Gossett Jr.). The Still Leading cases are part of an opening series of cases used in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. The cases document a number of individual’s lifetime personal and professional trajectories. They focus on the nature of career processes and transitions. The materials offer an opportunity for readers to inductively reason about the structure of significant career transitions and the developmental patterns across different arenas. The cases also create a context for participants to engage in introspection by asking them to reflect on patterns of development in their own career histories.

  Keywords: Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Transition;

  Citation:

  Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, Rakesh Khurana, James Honan, and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone. "Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 318-101, February 2018.  View Details

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