Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

North Carolina Treasurer fights Wachovia sale - UPDATE 11/17

North Carolina official talks tough on Wachovia sale

UPDATE: North Carolina State Treasurer and sometime gubernatorial hopeful Richard Moore wants to defeat Wells Fargo & Co.'s takeover bid for Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp. He fears (rightly) that his state will lose jobs. He wants shareholders to vote down the deal, and he wants a North Carolina judge to limit Wells Fargo's voting power under the sale agreement. This is funny - we don't remember Pennsylvania and other states whining when our banks were taken over by Wachovia or Bank of America Corp. - but we're not saying he's wrong to try.

EARLIER: Wachovia Corp. employs more people than General Motors. So why is the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank (the biggest in Philadelphia and other places) getting sold to Wells Fargo & Co. at a bargain price, while GM gets a bailout? That's what state treasurer Richard Moore's been asking. Video link here.

"We're watching this shotgun marriage take place that is going to wipe out a lot of jobs," he told CNBC's Squawk Box earlier this week. "We have the government picking winners and losers," he added.  "I don't think this is legal." He called Wells Fargo's offer "highway robbery. They're getting a great deal."

Of course, cities from Boston to Philadelphia to Jacksonville, Fla. remember Wachovia and predecessor First Union as a net destroyer of local jobs during its merger campaigns of the past 20 years. But now that the boot's on another foot, Moore says, as a North Carolina official, he has "a duty" to resist. We're asking his office if Moore expects to take any real action to block (or ease the local impact) of the pending sale. Or is he just grandstanding? No comment yet.