CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Less than a month after losing his chairman post, and more than two years after an ill-timed acquisition of California mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp., Wachovia Corp. chief executive Ken Thompson was forced to retire from the nation’s fourth-largest bank, Wachovia said Monday.
The board of the Charlotte- based bank said it asked Thomp son to leave a few days ago and acted Sunday to replace him on an interim basis with chairman Lanty Smith. Smith replaced Thompson as chairman last month in a move the bank said “strengthens independent leadership” at the company.
But analysts on Monday questioned whether Thomp son’s ouster means more problems at Wachovia, a bank that has weathered a series of setbacks, including mounting losses and federal investigations, in recent months. They also speculated that Wachovia could be a takeover candidate, though the bank said Monday it plans to remain independent.
“Golden West doesn’t help,” said Nancy Bush, an independent analyst with NAB Research LLC in Aiken, S.C. “Makes you wonder if there’s more trouble or change ahead.”
The high-priced deal gave Wachovia a means to expand aggressively into the booming home-lending business while also adding hundreds of branches on the West Coast. It also exposed the bank to collapsed housing markets and has led to billions in loan losses that continue to build.
Thompson, 57, joins Stanley O’Neal at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Charles Prince at Citigroup Inc. as leaders ousted amid turmoil in the U.S. housing market.
IN
Lanty Smith
Wachovia chairman takes over as interim chief executive
OUT
Ken Thompson
Forced to retire as chief executive; had already lost chairmanship
