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An Audience With

An audience with Wells Fargo’s John Langley: ‘I’d check on the cows at 6am then go to my desk to build a business’

The new COO of Wells Fargo’s investment bank thought he was retiring to his farm to raise cattle — it became his place to expand the company during the pandemic

John Langley says that despite plans to grow the business, he is mindful of taking a cautious approach
John Langley says that despite plans to grow the business, he is mindful of taking a cautious approach Photo: Danilo Agutoli for FN

When John Langley called time on his banking career after 27 years, he decided to go back to his roots.

Coming from a line of cattle farmers who have worked on the Welsh border since the 1700s, he eschewed his family business in favour of the City when after graduating from Cambridge University in 1990. But in 2017, when Langley left a senior role at Barclays, he moved out of London and back to Cheshire, where he started Oaklands Farming Partnership.

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