Paul Hazen

Paul Mandeville Hazen (born November 29, 1941) is an American businessman. He is a chairman of the board of directors of Accel-KKR and KKR Financial Holding Corporation and the former chairman and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Company.^[1] He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Hazen was born on November 29, 1941 in Lansing, Michigan. He received his BS degree in finance from the University of Arizona in 1963 and his MBA degree from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, California in 1964. Starting his banking career with Security Pacific National Bank in 1964, he joined Union Bank in 1966 and Wells Fargo & Company in 1970.

Career

At Wells Fargo, Hazen was an executive with several of the banks subsidiaries, including serving as president of the Wells Fargo Real Estate Investment Trust, a publicly traded REIT, from 1973 to 1978. Moving up to the parent company, he was elected executive vice president of Wells Fargo in 1978 and vice chairman in 1981.

Elected president and chief operating officer of Wells Fargo in 1984, Hazen led the bank through mergers with Crocker National in 1986 and Barclays Bank of California in 1988 and the recession of the early 1990s. He succeeded Carl E. Reichardt as chairman and chief executive officer in January 1995. While president of Wells Fargo, Hazen was elected a director of Safeway, Inc., in 1990 and AirTouch Communications in April 1993.

From February 1997 to November 1998, Hazen was president as well as chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo. He continued to serve as chairman until retirement in May 2001.

With Vodafone Group Plc Hazen was elected a director in June 1999 and deputy chairman and lead independent director in May 2000, serving until 2006.

Hazen was elected a director of Xstrata AG in 2000 and Xstrata Plc in 2002. He was also elected a director of Willis Group Holdings Ltd. in 2001.

In July 2004, Hazen was elected chairman of Accel-KKR Company and KKR Financial Holding Corporation, both subsidiaries of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Hazen was elected a director of Prosper Marketplace, Inc., in 2006, the year he retired from the boards of Vodafone Group Plc and Willis Group Holdings Ltd.

In addition to the directorships already mentioned, Hazen formerly served on the boards of E.piphany Inc., KSL Recreation Group, Pacific Telesis, Phelps Dodge Corporation and Shanghai Commercial Bank.

Currently, Hazen is chairman of Accel-KKR Company and KKR Financial Holding Corporation, leading independent director of Safeway Inc., and a director of Xstrata Plc and Prosper Marketplace, Inc.

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