Wells Fargo Bankers Toting Guns Aim at 40% of Market: Mortgages

In mid-January, sales managers in Wells Fargo & Co.’s mortgage unit, the largest in the U.S., gathered at a hotel south of San Francisco dressed as cowboys, six shooters strapped to their hips.

The invitation said “40% or BUST!!” The goal: A bigger share of the business than they already control -- about 34 percent of all U.S. home lending and 13 percent of mortgages for purchases in the first quarter. About a dozen managers urged the audience of 500 loan officers to lend more, according to two attendees who asked that their names not be used because they aren't authorized to speak publicly. Onstage, the men had fake mustaches and wore red-flannel shirts and jeans, the women long dresses like those in a movie western, one of the people said.