Wells Fargo Chief Auditor Passes

Sad news from Wells Fargo this weekend: Julie Scammahorn, the bank’s chief auditor since 2019 and a long-time senior audit professional in the banking industry, passed away on Thursday. 

A spokesman for Wells Fargo confirmed Scammahorn’s death on Friday, saying she died after a brief illness. Other sources have told Radical Compliance that Scammahorn had been ill for several months. A complete obituary and information about survivors were not immediately available.

Scammahorn

Scammahorn joined Wells Fargo in 2019, and led a team of roughly 1,500 audit professionals across the enterprise. Earlier in her career Scammahorn had also done stints as chief auditor at Citibank, American Express, and Bank of America; and at one place or another had been working in corporate audit since the 1990s. 

Before she entered banking and auditing, Scammahorn spent 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and sometimes spoke about how her experiences as a veteran served her in Corporate America. (“Many of the skills I learned from being in the military prepared me for my role today, including finding my voice, having confidence, mitigating risk, being resilient, and building a strong team,” she once wrote. No truer words spoken.) She was also active in the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Scammahorn was born and raised in Virginia, and had been living in San Francisco since she joined Wells Fargo. She reported directly to CEO Charlie Scharf and to the board’s audit committee. 

By the way: Some online sources have implied that Scammahorn died under mysterious circumstances. That is not true, and Radical Compliance will not dignify that nonsense with any further speculation. Neither should anyone else.