2 Wells Fargo Executives Quit

Two of Wells Fargo & Co.’s top lending executives have resigned as part of a major shake-up following a sharp rise in problem real estate loans.

Company officials confirmed that David Petrone, vice chairman and chief lending officer, and Dale Walker, executive vice president and head of the real estate lending group, had submitted resignations.

Petrone, 47, will leave by March 1. He is a longtime associate of Wells’ chairman and chief executive, Carl E. Reichardt.

A company spokeswoman said his decision was personal and not tied to problems in the real estate portfolio that led to a $231-million loss in the fourth quarter.

Walker, 48, is expected to stay on several months, but authority over his real estate group is being transferred to Charles Johnson, the head of corporate and commercial lending. Johnson, 50, was promoted to vice chairman.

Replacing Petrone as vice chairman and chief lending officer is Michael Gillfillan, 43, the head of Wells’ loan workout unit.

The changes follow a tough examination of Wells’ real estate loan portfolio by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which resulted in a $700-million loan-loss provision in the last quarter of 1991.

In an internal memorandum obtained by the American Banker, Reichardt noted that Petrone asked to leave more than a year ago, and he was asked to stay “through 1991 to help us through a turbulent real estate market.”

“Now that . . . the real estate portion of our regulatory exam is behind us, we are reluctantly accepting his formal resignation.”