New York Post, Saturday, November 14, 2020
nypost.com
The feds slapped ex-Wells
Fargo chief John Stumpf
and the bank’s former com-
munity banking head Carrie
Tolstedt with fresh civil
charges and fines over their
roles in the fraud scandal
that rocked the bank in
2016.
The Securities and Ex-
change Commission said
Friday that Stumpf and Tol-
stedt intentionally misled
investors about Wells’ com-
munity bank as they in-
flated the unit’s financial
performance while also cre-
ating millions of fraudulent
and unauthorized accounts.
The 66-year-old Stumpf
— who left Wells in Octo-
ber 2016 — has already
agreed to pay a $2.5 million
fine but will avoid admit-
ting any wrongdoing to the
SEC, according to a filing.
In January, Stumpf was
barred from the banking in-
dustry and fined $17.5 mil-
lion by a banking regulator.
Tolstedt, who was al-
lowed to “retire” in July
2016 as her unit was re-
vealed to be at the center of
Wells Fargo’s crisis, is in
significantly more trouble.
She has been charged with
fraud for certifying that
“cross-selling” was on the
up and up in 2015 and 2016,
despite having been told
that was not the case.
The SEC is seeking $25
million in penalties from
Tolstedt, and is looking to
ban her from business.
Thornton McEneryNew raps
vs. Wells
exec duo
Russian and North Ko-
rean hackers have tried to
attack pharmaceutical firms
that are racing to develop
coronavirus vaccines, Mic-
rosoft said Friday.
The tech giant said it has
detected cyberattacks in re-
cent months against seven
major companies that are
“directly involved” in re-
searching vaccines and
treatments for the bug.
Microsoft has traced the
hacks to a Russian group
called “Strontium” and two
outfits in North Korea that
the company calls “Zinc”
and “Cerium.”
Noah Manskar, WiresRussia & NoKo
vax hack attax
Denmark’s mink massacre is also
killing one of the country’s largest
fur sellers.
The breeder-owned cooperative
Kopenhagen Fur says it will shut
down over the next two to three
years because of the Danish gov-
ernment’s drastic efforts to con-
tain a coronavirus outbreak there.
Officials announced plans last
week to slaughter all 15 million of
Denmark’s farmed mink after a
new strain of COVID-19 emergedamong the furry critters — a move
that has put fur farmers “in an ex-
treme and unusually difficult situ-
ation,” according to Kopenhagen
Fur CEO Jesper Lauge.
“Unfortunately, even the strong-
est community cannot survive the
consequences of the decisions that
have now been made,” Lauge said
in a Thursday statement.
Kopenhagen Fur, which calls it-
self the world’s largest fur auction
house, sells furs produced by the1,500 Danish farmers who also
own it. They’re part of a major
industry in Denmark that raises
more than 16 million mink annu-
ally and accounts for the coun-
try’s biggest export commodity
to China and Hong Kong, ac-
cording to the company.
It’s unclear what the mink
culling will mean for the rest of
the Danish fur industry, whose
farms employ about 6,000 peo-
ple. Noah Manskar, WiresFurrier dying along with mink
The looming release of the Play-
Station 5 and Xbox Series X didn’t
put a damper on Switch sales last
month, with Nintendo’s flagship
console delivering the second-
strongest October sales perform-
ance ever.
The ultra-popular gaming system
moved 735,000 units last month —
more than 3½ years after its March
2017 release — as the pandemic
continues to pour rocket fuel on theJapanese giant’s sales.
The Switch has now sold more
than 22.5 million units in the US,
and more than 63 million world-
wide.
It has been the best-selling con-
sole in the world for 23 consecutive
months.
Nintendo raked in profits of $2.8
billion between April and Septem-
ber, up 209 percent from the same
period in 2019. Nicolas VegaSwitch won’t get X’d out
McDonald’s is boosting its in-
spections in hopes of warding off
“COVID fatigue,” The Post has
learned.
The Golden Arches in a memo
Friday told its franchisees that it
will be conducting new safety in-
spections of its 14,000 US eateries
as cases soar across the country.
The inspections will include a re-
view of safety protocols “to assess
each of your locations so everyoneon your team is aware of the oppor-
tunities and what is needed to im-
prove,” according to the memo,
a copy of which was obtained by
The Post.
The inspections, to be completed
this year, will focus on procedures
for contactless payment systems
and social distancing, wrote McDo-
nald’s chief field officer, Charlie
Strong, and two franchisee owners.
Lisa FickenscherMcD’s steps up inspex
By AlexAndrA SteigrAd“Wonder Woman 1984” —
the only big-budget movie
still scheduled to be re-
leased in theaters this year
— may end up on the HBO
Max streaming service soon
after its release, according
to a report.
Warner Bros. is mulling
moving the superhero flick
starring Gal Godot from its
Christmas Day theatrical de-
but to sometime in 2021,
Bloomberg reported. But an-
other option that is gaining
support is to quickly release
the movie to WarnerMedia’s
fledgling home-streaming
service HBO Max — as little
as a week or two after it hits
theaters, the report said.
Higher-ups at the com-
pany, faced with state-
ordered lockdowns and cor-
onavirus scares that have
emptied theaters nationwide,
are in the final stages of talks
about the fate of “Wonder
Woman,” according to the
late Thursday report, whichcited anonymous sources.
Warner Bros. did not return
requests for comment.
Insiders told Bloomberg
that movie theaters are also
more receptive to the idea
than usual, as it could help
the new streamer add sub-scribers quickly while keep-
ing cinemas open with a new
release at the same time.
Releasing a big budget
movie like “Wonder
Woman” to home streaming
so quickly would be a no-no
under pre-pandemic cir-cumstances. The movie,
which had been delayed
from June 5 to Aug. 14, then
to Oct. 2 before landing on
Dec. 25, was expected to be
one of the summer’s biggest
hits. It is a follow-up to a
movie that grossed $822million worldwide in 2017.
But Hollywood is being
forced to get creative with
film releases and has yet to
find a winning formula.
Warner Bros. tried releasing
Christopher Nolan’s spy
thriller “Tenet” in theaters
around Labor Day weekend.
The big-budget film grossed
just $55 million domestically
and $296 million overseas.
Disney tried a hybrid
method with “Mulan” by re-
leasing it on its streaming
service Disney+ for a $30
additional cost while simul-
taneously debuting it in cer-
tain foreign theaters. The
strategy was seen by many
as a rare misstep for the
Mouse House as the film
grossed just $67 million at
the box office. Disney hasn’t
released “Mulan’s” Disney+
haul but reports have put it
between $200 million and
$260 million.
In pre-pandemic condi-
tions, both “Tenet” and “Mu-
lan” were expected to bring
in more than $800 million.Home box office!
HBO Max eyes ‘Wonder’ stream soon after release
Waiting for Gadot
2017’s “Wonder
Woman” starring
Gal Gadot (left)
grossed $822 million
worldwide, but amid
the pandemic,
Warner Bros. is
reportedly in talks to
stream the followup
flick on HBO Max. Warner Bros Pictures via AP