Richard Kovacevich
Overview
Kovacevich was a TheranosTheranosTheranos was a blood-testing company founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes and based in Palo Alto, California, which offered retail testing with Walgreens and was valued at up to $9 billion before regulatory sanctions and criminal charges over alleged fraud in its technology and financial claims led to its dissolution in 2018.Open the full entry director and personal investor, later recognized by a court as a victim of its investor-fraud scheme.[1][2]
Contents11 sections
Key facts
Education and Early Experience
Kovacevich earned Stanford bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering and an MBA in 1967. His early experience included baseball, selling rosebushes for a grocery store and running a toy company.[3]
1986–1995Norwest
After General Mills and Citicorp, Kovacevich joined Norwest in March 1986. He became president and COO in 1989, CEO in 1993 and chairman in 1995.[4]
1998–2001Wells Fargo
After the 1998 Norwest–Wells Fargo merger, Kovacevich became the combined company’s president and CEO, adding the chairmanship in April 2001.[4]
2003Leadership and the Arbuckle Award
Stanford GSB’s alumni association awarded Kovacevich its 2003 Arbuckle Award. He advocated delegating responsibility and decisions to employees and building teams’ confidence in themselves.[3]
2005Joining Cisco’s Board
Cisco appointed Kovacevich a director on January 19, 2005.[4]
2007–2009Wells Fargo Succession
Kovacevich left the CEO post in June 2007. In September 2009, Wells Fargo announced his departure as chairman at year-end, with John Stumpf succeeding him on January 1, 2010. The financial crisis and Wachovia acquisition had extended the transition.[5]
2013Joining Theranos
On July 29, 2013, Theranos announced that Kovacevich and James MattisJames MattisJames Mattis is a retired U.S. Marine Corps general and former commander of U.S. Central Command. He served as U.S. secretary of defense from January 2017 through December 2018. A former Theranos director and personal investor, he later testified at Elizabeth Holmes’s criminal trial.Open the full entry had joined its board.[2]
2023Theranos Loss and Restitution Order
On May 16, 2023, a federal court identified Kovacevich as a victim of Theranos investor fraud and assigned him $4,149,990 in restitution. Holmes and Balwani were jointly and severally liable. The order did not establish that he recovered the money, and his personal investment should not be attributed to Wells Fargo.[1]
February 2023FBI Interview Cited at Sentencing
The February 2023 sentencing order cited an FBI interview with Kovacevich: before investing, he was told that Theranos devices were used in military operations; in 2013, he did not know they could perform only twelve tests. He said he learned of their inability to perform all tests from the 2015 investigation and resigned after an independent valuation failed to materialize.[6]
Sources
- Order on Restitution, United States v. Holmes and Balwani, No. 5:18-cr-00258-EJD, Document 1760 (opens in a new window)
- Theranos Announces New Members of Its Board of Directors (opens in a new window)
- Richard Kovacevich Honored with 2003 Arbuckle Award (opens in a new window)
- Cisco Appoints Wells Fargo Chairman And CEO Richard Kovacevich To Its Board Of Directors (opens in a new window)
- Wells Chairman Kovacevich To Step Down (opens in a new window)
- United States v. Balwani — Order on Sentencing, Document 1730 (opens in a new window)