Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf, under fire for the bank’s sales-tactics scandal and his own handling of its fallout, is stepping down from both roles, effective immediately, the bank said Wednesday.  He will be replaced by President and COO Timothy Sloan, who was widely seen as his heir apparent.

Mr. Stumpf, 63, who leaves just shy of his 10th year as CEO, will not receive a severance package. He previously agreed to relinquish $41 million in unvested equity, one of the biggest-ever forfeitures of pay by a bank chief. He nontheless retires with tens of millions of dollars earned during roughly 35 years at the bank - estimated total compensation is valued at $120 million.  However, depending on the outcome of any investigations, it's possible that the board could decide to have Stumpf relinquish more pay - as much as $24 million of pension benefits.

While Mr. Sloan takes over as CEO, the bank’s lead independent director, Stephen Sanger, will become chairman, the bank said. Elizabeth Duke, a current director and former Federal Reserve governor, will become vice chairman.

The scandal marks a stunning comedown for a firm that largely passed through the financial crisis unscathed and which was seen as a reliable Main Street lender. That reputation was shattered by the sales-tactics scandal, which revealed that bank employees had opened as many as 2 million accounts without customers’ knowledge.