Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger will retire at the end of December after sixteen years of leading the brokerage firm, the company announced on Tuesday.
Bettinger will be replaced by Charles Schwab President Rick Wurster on January 1, 2025. Bettinger will remain co-chairman of Schwab’s board.
Charles Schwab, 5 years old
In a statement, Bettinger cited his 65th birthday next year as a reason for stepping aside and praised the choice of Wurster.
“The Schwab board’s thoughtful and disciplined approach to succession planning will help make this transition smooth. Rick Wurster and I have worked together on a daily basis for more than eight years. I have full confidence in his leadership and I am pleased that the Schwab board Schwab Board of Directors has selected him as my successor,” the statement said.
In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Wurster indicated there would be no immediate change in strategy if the CEO were transferred.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a transition in the sense that we’re going to continue doing what we’re doing, which is delivering to our customers and making them happy,” Wurster said.
Since Bettinger took the helm in 2008, the company’s client assets have grown from $1.14 trillion to $9.74 trillion, and client investment accounts have grown from less than 10 million to more than 43 million. This growth is partly due to Schwab’s acquisition of TD Ameritrade, which closed in 2020.
Bettinger said on “Squawk Box” that Ameritrade’s integration was completed earlier this year and was another reason he thought now was a good time to step away from the CEO role.
Schwab shares have risen about 150% during Bettinger’s tenure, which began in the middle of the financial crisis, but have underperformed the broader market over the past two years.
“I often say that not many CEOs cut their company’s stock price in half in the first 90 days, but that’s kind of what I ran into during the financial crisis,” Bettinger said on “Squawk Box.”
Schwab shares fell about 1% in morning trading on Tuesday.
