Reference points of big numbers from the banking industry

Concord coach, from the days when Wells Fargo was the gold standard of honesty and integrity. Painting of Old Town San Diego is visible at top. Photo at Wells Fargo’s San Diego museum by James Ulvog.

To provide reference points for really big numbers, I’ve been accumulating information from articles that describe big things.

An article in the Wall Street Journal gives some detail of the fourth quarter financial results for Wells Fargo: 1/14/20 – Wall Street Journal – Wells Fargo CEO: A Wonderful Bank That Made ‘Some Terrible Mistakes’.

Top-line Revenue for 4th quarter:

  • $19.86 billion – 2019 4th quarter revenue for Wells Fargo
  • $20.98 billion – 2018 4th quarter revenue for Wells Fargo

Net income for quarter:

  • $2.87 billion – 2019 4th quarter earnings (net income) for Wells Fargo
  • $6.06 billion – 2018 4th quarter earnings (net income) for Wells Fargo

New loans written by Wells Fargo in 3rd quarter of 2019:

  • $60 billion – new mortgage loans written by Wells Fargo in 2019 3rd quarter
  • $38 billion – new mortgage loans written by Wells Fargo in 2018 3rd quarter

Annualizing the quarterly numbers gives the following estimates of an annual amount:

  • $70.4 billion – annualized amount of Wells Fargo’s annual total revenue based on 2019 fourth quarter
  • $11.5 billion – annualized amount of Wells Fargo’s annual net income based on 2019 fourth quarter earnings
  • $24.2 billion – annualized amount of Wells Fargo’s annual net income based on 2018 fourth quarter earnings

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