Betsy Duke to chair Wells Fargo board at beginning of next year

New York

BETSY Duke was working in a Virginia Beach dinner theatre in the mid-1970s, struggling to make ends meet, when she applied for a job at a dry cleaner. It turned her down. Instead, she became a part-time teller.

On Tuesday, Wells Fargo & Co named her the first woman to oversee one of the largest banks in the United States. She will become chair of the lender's board at the start of next year, capping one of the most epic climbs - by man or woman - into the financial industry's top echelons.