John Nickoll, head of Wells Fargo & Company’s asset-based lending group, announced that he plans to retire at the end of September 2006. Peter Schwab, the head of Wells Fargo Foothill and a thirty-year veteran of the industry, will succeed Nickoll, who co-founded Foothill with the late Don Gevirtz in 1970. Schwab will report to Dave Hoyt, senior executive vice president of Wells Fargo & Company and head of Wells Fargo’s Wholesale Banking Group.
“John is one of the pioneers of commercial finance in North America and thanks to his vision and leadership many hundreds of companies have grown and prospered because they had access to much-needed capital at critical times in their development,” said Hoyt. “Our predecessor company, Norwest acquired Foothill in 1995. During John’s tenure, Foothill grew to be one of the nation’s largest asset-based lending companies. The asset-based lending businesses have been consistent, significant contributors to Wholesale Banking’s growth. With Peter’s experience and leadership, our asset-based lending businesses are poised for continued growth and profitability.”
In his new role as head of the asset-based lending group, Schwab will be responsible for Wells Fargo Foothill, Wells Fargo Business Credit, Wells Fargo Century and Alternative Investment Management.
Nickoll has more than 40 years of experience in the commercial finance industry. He started his career at Civic Finance in Milwaukee in 1960. Before co-founding Foothill in 1970 with an initial investment of $40,000, Nickoll was president (1963-1970) of Civic Western Corporation, a Los Angeles commercial finance company, which was later sold to Aetna Life and Casualty in 1969.
Nickoll took The Foothill Group public in 1972. It was acquired by the former Norwest Corporation (predecessor of Wells Fargo) in 1995. In 2003, its subsidiaries, Foothill Capital Corporation and Century Business Credit Corporation, changed their names to Wells Fargo Foothill and Wells Fargo Century respectively.
In addition to being president, chairman and CEO of The Foothill Group, Inc., Nickoll has been managing general partner of seven investment partnerships which invest primarily in senior bank, debt, both par and distressed issues. He’s on the Board of Directors of CIM High Yield Fund, California Council of Economic Education, The Children’s Burn Foundation, and The Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation at UCLA. He’s the past president of Commercial Finance Conference of Southern California, Thrift Guaranty Corporation of California and the California Association of Industrial Banks. He was a director and office of the National Commercial Finance Association and an advisory board member of the California Department of Corporations.
A native of Los Angeles, Nickoll graduated cum laude from Brown University and received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He served as a trustee of Brown University.
Schwab has been in the asset-based lending industry for 30 years and has been with Foothill since 1982. Before joining the company, he was vice president of Barclay’s American Business Credit. Previously, he was with the National Acceptance Company of California.
Schwab has served as the president and chairman of the Commercial Finance Association and was a member and officer of the Southern California Finance Conference. He also serves on the board of advisors for the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Anderson School of Business at UCLA, and on the board of directors of The School of Business, California State University, Northridge.
A native of Los Angeles, Schwab earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University at Northridge and a master’s degree from California State University at Los Angeles.