Visa’s chief steps down, citing commuting issues

Visa’s chief, Charlie Scharf, is stepping down from his position Dec. 1.

The news surprised employees and analysts—perhaps, in part, because of the reason he gave.

Forbes reported Scharf “resigned because he could no longer commute to Visa’s San Francisco headquarters and do the job effectively.”

The Wall Street Journal reported:

In a memo to Visa employees Monday, Mr. Scharf noted that his daughters, parents and extended family are all on the East Coast. Before taking the Visa job in 2012, Mr. Scharf lived in New York.

In the email, Sharf said:

I love working and running this great global company and I am sad to have reached the conclusion that I should step down, but running a San Francisco based company just doesn’t work for me personally right now and wouldn’t be fair to Visa.