Former Wells Fargo CEO wants Americans back to work next month: 'Some may even die, I don't know'

Richard Kovacevich, the former CEO of Wells Fargo, wants Americans to get back to their jobs -- even if it kills them.


In an interview with Bloomberg, Kovacevich said that he thinks we have to get Americans working again sometime by the end of next month. Although he'd prefer to have them come back after the coronavirus pandemic is under control, he said the risks to the economy were too great to keep them out much longer.

“We’ll gradually bring those people back and see what happens," he said. Some of them will get sick, some may even die, I don’t know... Do you want to suffer more economically or take some risk that you’ll get flu-like symptoms and a flu-like experience? Do you want to take an economic risk or a health risk? You get to choose.”

President Donald Trump this week said that he also wanted to see Americans get back to work next month, either by April 1st or by Easter on April 12th, even though public health officials have warned him that the pandemic will not be anywhere close to under control in that time frame.

Trump has reportedly received a push to get Americans back to work by Wall Street executives who are upset that social distancing measures are harming the economy.