Wells Fargo has been ordered by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel to pay $495,000 to a Las Vegas advisor who claimed the bank used his name on one of the firm’s websites long after he exited the company.
The panel on ruled this week that Wells Fargo must pay Nicholas Takahashi $250,000 in punitive damages, $81,885 in compensatory damages, $150,000 in legal fees and roughly $13,000 in other costs.
Takahashi, who worked for Morgan Stanley for 11 years, moved his $1.5 billion team, the Takahashi Retirement Group, to Raymond James in May. The group has offices in Las Vegas and Newport Beach, Calif.
Takahashi was listed as No. 7 on the 2024 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list and No. 82 on the Forbes America’s Top Next Generation Wealth Advisors list.
Takahashi, who began his career with Wells Fargo in 2008 and left the bank in 2013, had sought $1 million in punitive damages, $553,473 in compensatory damages, and roughly $271,000 in legal fees and other costs.
In his statement of claim, filed in July 2022, he accused the bank of violating California Civil Code 3344, which in part states that a person is liable for damages if they knowingly use someone’s name, voice, photograph, likeness in way for advertising or selling purposes.
Takahashi also accused the bank of “failure to supervise and control, fraud, constructive fraud, misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic relations, and violations of FINRA rules of fair practice.”
The award document did not specify how and when Takahashi’s name was used. He could not be reached for comment.
His attorney Patrick R. Mahoney of the Law Offices of Patrick R. Mahoney, P.C., Los Angeles, Calif., declined to give specifics. He would only say, “Wells Fargo knowingly used my client’s name for a commercial purpose and the panel wasn’t happy about it. We are thrilled with the result that we thought was just and fair.”
Wells Fargo did not respond to a request for comment.