Wells Fargo - The Weird Transition from "Railway" to "Bank"

Henry Wells

Henry Wells was born in 1805 in Thetford, Vermont. As a child, Henry worked on a farm and attended school in Fayette. In 1836, Wells became a freight agent on the Erie Canal.  

In 1841 the firm of Pomeroy & Company was formed by George E. Pomeroy, Henry Wells and Crawford Livingston. They competed with the United States Post Office by carrying mail at less than the government rate. The government itself was compelled to reduce its rates twice in 1845 and 1851. 

William George Fargo

William George Fargo was born in Pompey, New York. From the age of thirteen he supported himself for schooling by working as a clerk in grocery stores. He became a freight agent for the Auburn & Syracuse railway company in 1841. 

On April 1, 1845, Wells & Company's Western Express was established by Wells, Fargo and Daniel Dunning. Service was offered at first as far as Detroit, rapidly expanding to Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. In 1846, Wells sold his interest in Western Express to William Livingston, whereupon the firm became Livingston, Fargo & Company. 

In 1850, the American Express Company was formed as a consolidation of Wells & Company; Livingston, Fargo & Company; and Wells, Butterfield & Company. Wells became president and Fargo secretary.  






In 1851, the firm of Wells Fargo & Company was organized. It acquired Livingston, Wells & Company, which had been its express and banking correspondent in England, France and Germany. 

More than 150 years later, Wells Fargo in its present form is now the world's fourth-largest bank by market capitalization and the fourth largest bank in the US by total assets. As of June 2018, it had 8,050 branches, operations in 35 countries and 70 million customers globally. 


HOW DOES THIS UNLOCK TODAY'S COMPANY EVOLUTION
We find it weird when Xiaomi, a market leader in smartphones in China, is venturing into different products completely unrelated to the smartphone industry. Perhaps they draw inspiration from Well Fargo which started off as a railway company and moved on to being a giant in the banking sector. 

We have seen Microsoft venture into the gaming industry (X-Box) from the computers segment and Facebook venture into Augmented Reality (Facebook AR Glasses) products from their mainstream social media platform.