Gary Cohn Denying Wells Fargo Rumor Signals Pressure on CEO(1)

Gary Cohn promptly denied it, but the rumor has been persistent and widespread on Wall Street: The former Goldman Sachs executive, who recently ended a stint as a White House adviser, had supposedly heard from Wells Fargo & Co. this year about becoming its next leader.

Approached by the New York Post for an article it published Sept. 19, Cohn bluntly denied he’s in talks: “Absolutely not. Absolutely not -- and you can put that on the record,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

And that afternoon, the bank’s chair, Betsy Duke, weighed in too: “Rumors that Wells Fargo’s board ...