September 2, 2025
Throughout the year, Wells Fargo has appeared to methodically cleanse its website of references to diversity.
Wells Fargo has become the latest company to remove or rebrand its public-facing language concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion, as an analysis conducted by HR Brew determined that the company has completely removed all diversity language from its website.
According to Fortune, the move from the bank follows an announcement in February that its hiring managers no longer needed to consider a diverse slate of candidates. Although that appeared at the time to be the only major change to its broader DEI policies, on Aug. 15, protestors demanded that the company reinstate that policy in addition to its environmental commitments.
Throughout the year, Wells Fargo has appeared to methodically cleanse its website of references to diversity, including its work with the nation’s first national organization for lesbians, its support of Japanese Americans who were held in American concentration camps, and Spanish-language support, which dates back to the 1800s.
Furthermore, the bank also removed its DEI landing page, sub-page, and related content, including its annual DEI report, racial equity assessment, and pay equity analysis.
Although Ebony Thomas, the company’s head of DEI, still occupies the position she was appointed to in May 2024, the company appears to have pivoted on DEI to avoid any potential legal ramifications.
The bank has, however, retained aspects of DEI that legal experts consider less open to risk of litigation, including its recruitment of military veterans and their spouses, supporting disabled workers, and its Neurodiversity Program, which it established in 2020.
The protest in Charlotte, led by Rev. Amy Brooks-Paradise, was centered on climate justice and wealth distribution as she communicated to WCNC Charlotte.
“We need to stop having a fossil fuel economy,” Rev. Brooks-Paradise said. “We really want them to reinstate those goals and to actively work hard with other banks and other financiers to make a just transition to a clean energy future. It’s wealth allocation. If everybody who has a lot of money and makes those big salaries looks like me, it means that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few.”
According to multiple outlets, Wells Fargo has neither commented on the protest nor answered questions about the rollback of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Despite the actions of Wells Fargo and other companies, Roger Trapp, a U.K.-based journalist who has covered management and leadership for 30 years, asserted in an op-ed for Forbes that these companies need to reset their diversity programs instead of abandoning them.
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