Did Wells Fargo save any money by canceling its lavish event?

Former event participants called the entertainment "lavish." If anything, that seems to be an understatement; past iterations of this event included wine tastings, helicopter flights, camel rides, and performances by big-name entertainers like Jimmy Buffett and Cher.

Let's lowball the cost estimates.  Since we don't know exactly what activities Wells Fargo had planned for the lucky guests, attempting to quantify those would be a shot in the dark. But one fixture we can put a dollar amount on is the gifts. It's not at all uncommon for participants in events like this to get daily freebies that tie into the theme of the outings—say, golf shirts or spa robes—along with more typical awards like plaques and trophies. Most, if not all, would be personalized with the employee and guest's name or initials, so returning them to the manufacturer really wouldn't be an option. For a program of this caliber, an outlay of $250 per couple wouldn't raise any eyebrows, which adds another $125,000 to our tally. Wells Fargo could just mail employees their goodies, although it might be a bit of a bummer to get a fluffy bathrobe and spa sandals while toiling away at your desk.

Big-name entertainers charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for private gigs. Again, we'll give Wells Fargo the benefit of the doubt and assume that in a concession to belt-tightening times, they had booked the relatively inexpensive American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for $250,000. Big-name stars get paid upfront, and with the cancellation coming on such short notice, that money is gone.

Entertainment is one area in which Wells Fargo actually saves money by canceling, though. Those six- and seven-figure numbers don't cover the celebrity's rider, which includes requirements like first-class tickets for the star and his or her entourage, catered meals, paying someone to pick out all the green M&Ms, and so on. They also don't include the cost of production and staging, which can run in the mid-five-figure range.

Still, when you add it up, Wells Fargo is out at least $999,000. The actual cost may very well be even higher. It's a steep price, but if it helps them avoid a PR debacle, Wells' execs may still consider it money well spent.

Thanks to Lisa Sommer Devlin of Devlin Law Firm, Jim Dittman of Dittman Incentive Marketing, and Josh Gair of Impact Entertainment.