Finance · Profile from Finance Research Companion
Charles Schwab
The discount broker that Charles R. "Chuck" Schwab built after fixed brokerage commissions were abolished on May 1, 1975, and that became, through fifty years of price cuts, technology and acquisitions, the largest publicly traded US brokerage and the main custodian for independent investment advisers. It eliminated online stock commissions in October 2019, bought TD Ameritrade in 2020, and by September 2026 held ~$13.3tn of client assets. Its real business model, revealed in 2022–23, is less a broker than a bank: most of its revenue comes from net interest on the cash clients keep with it, which is why rising rates in 2023 produced "cash sorting", large unrealized losses on held-to-maturity bonds, expensive emergency funding and a share-price collapse after Silicon Valley Bank failed, before a record recovery in 2025–26.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1971 in San Francisco as First Commander Corporation; renamed Charles Schwab & Co. in 1973; discount brokerage from May 1975
- Headquarters
- Westlake, Texas (moved from San Francisco, completed ~2021; verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Public company (NYSE: SCHW) since September 1987; savings and loan holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve, with Charles Schwab Bank and other bank subsidiaries; Chuck Schwab is the largest individual shareholder (verify stake); TD Bank sold its ~10.1% stake in February 2025
- Leadership (2026)
- Rick Wurster, president and CEO since January 1, 2025; Chuck Schwab and Walt Bettinger, co-chairmen (verify); Neesha Hathi heads a combined Wealth Advisory and Banking Services division from 2026 (company, reported)
- Segments
- Investor Services (retail brokerage, banking, wealth advice) and Advisor Services (custody, trading and support for ~15,000-plus independent RIAs, verify); Schwab Asset Management (Schwab ETFs and funds)
- Scale
- Total client assets ~$13.33tn at September 30, 2026 (+15% year on year); 46.5m client accounts at end-2025; core net new assets ~$519bn in 2025 and a record ~$190bn in Q3 2026 (company, reported)
- Revenue and profit
- 2025 net revenues ~$23.9bn (+22%), GAAP net income ~$8.85bn (+49%) (company); Q3 2026 net revenues ~$7.17bn, GAAP net income ~$2.91bn, EPS $1.62 (earnings release, October 15, 2026)
- Capital / regulatory status
- Bank subsidiaries regulated by the OCC/Texas regulator and FDIC (verify); total assets ~$450–480bn in 2025 (verify); as a large SLHC subject to Fed capital rules (Category III, verify); did not take TARP in 2008
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Discount brokerage after May Day (1975); sale to Bank of America (1983) and buyback and IPO (1987); U.S. Trust (2000) and its sale (2007); Pottruck's ouster and Chuck Schwab's return (2004); zero commissions (2019); TD Ameritrade (2020); the Intelligent Portfolios SEC settlement (2022); cash sorting, HTM losses and deposit outflows (2023)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1975
Discount Brokerage After May Day
Founding of the discount model / pricing change
1983
Bank of America Sale and 1987 Buyback IPO
Acquisition (sale) / management buyback / IPO
2000
US Trust Acquisition and Sale
Acquisition (2000) and divestiture (2006–07)
2004
Pottruck Ouster and Founder Return
Restructuring (CEO change and strategic reset)
2019
Zero Commissions
Pricing change
2020
TD Ameritrade Acquisition
Acquisition
2022
Intelligent Portfolios SEC Settlement
Regulatory settlement
2023
Cash Sorting HTM Losses and Deposit Outflows
Failure / balance-sheet stress (not a bank failure)