C. Allen Parker is finding out how tough it can be to head up a scandal-plagued company.
The interim chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co. was interrupted more than a dozen times during the bank's annual meeting in Dallas on Tuesday by activist shareholders who called executives "frauds" and "criminals" and demanded Parker turn the company around.
"Frauds, all of you," one of the shareholders shouted as Parker tried to continue his opening remarks. "Wells Fargo, you cannot be trusted," yelled another.
"One of the wonderful things about shareholder democracy in this country is that we have meetings like this," Parker said, adding that time will be set aside for investor remarks later in the meeting.
Wells Fargo's string of scandals began with the revelation that employees opened millions of potentially fake accounts to meet sales goals. Tim Sloan stepped down as CEO last month under mounting pressure from regulators, politicians and investors. Parker is leading the company while it searches for a new top executive.
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