Banking | Finance 2024: SHANE McLAUGHLIN

In his role, McLaughlin oversees 88 branch locations and more than 750 employees. 

A Virginia Tech alumnus, McLaughlin joined Wachovia in 2004, working as a licensed financial specialist in Richmond. He quickly climbed the ranks, first taking a position as a financial specialist sales leader and, later, becoming West End district manager. 

Following Wells Fargo’s acquisition of Wachovia, McLaughlin in 2011 was named area president in Washington, D.C. He later took over the Northern Virginia market. In 2017, Wells Fargo named McLaughlin region bank president for northern Virginia. In 2021, his territory expanded, now encompassing the northern half of Virginia. 

In June, McLaughlin, a 2019 graduate of Leadership Greater Washington, was elected to the Virginia Bankers Association’s board. 

Ranked third among the nation’s largest banks, Wells Fargo had $1.7 trillion in assets as of March. The company closed 280 branches in 2023, according to its annual report, as a response to its customers’ “shift to digital channels.”

In February, workers at a Wells Fargo branch in Virginia Beach voted to join Communications Workers of America, becoming the fourth unionized Wells Fargo branch in the country.